The Calm Before the Storm
by purplehershey
Summary: Regina is stuck in her loveless marriage with Leopold, her heart still broken over Daniel's death. When Emma, the Lost Princess, arrives at her castle Regina finds out that she might not have been as alone as she previously thought. Swan Queen.
1. The Lost Princess

**A/N: I don't own anything! Basically I'm bending all aspects of the show's time and space. Snow White is not Emma's mother, Regina and Emma live in the same time period in FTL, etc, etc. I'm debating on whether or not to continue this story so for now we'll see what the interest in it is like. But if it turns out the interest is there, I can promise some shocking moments I've got up my sleeve. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Regina, King Michael and Queen Elizabeth will be arriving within the hour. You must go change into appropriate dress." Regina looked down at her corset ridden waist that transitioned into layers upon layers of ruffles. _What else could he possibly ask of me? _She snarled inside her head.

Instead, her face remained passive as she sharply nodded and walked towards her room. Her own, personal room. One would assume that along with marriage came a shared bedchamber, not that she was complaining the mere thought of sharing a room with that vile man caused her jaw to clamp down, hard. The only problem was that the separated rooms did not stop the late night calls for Regina when the King found himself unsatisfied in his bed.

Though her visits into his bed riddled her with nightmares for the several nights after, it was expected for her to be there to answer to his every beck and call. Once Leopold had fully deemed himself satisfied, he would kick her out of his room, sometimes without a chance to fully clothe herself.

It made her stomach churn. It made her feel sick, infuriated, dirty, and desperately lonely. Time after time of living and reliving the nightmare, she finally devised a defense mechanism to keep the pain hidden. She took all her anger and carefully wrapped it into a regal persona, carefully waiting for a time when she could break free. One problem remained, she lacked a catalyst. She needed something, or someone to turn the tables so that she, for once in her goddamn life, could win.

After laboriously taking off her current dress and replacing it with the periwinkle blue dress that she knew would be elegant enough for the evening. She halfheartedly draped a diamond necklace across her chest, making sure her earrings matched. Stepping back and looking at herself in the mirror, she turned from side to side, her thoughts drifting to years before.

What she would give to wear her riding clothes again, to braid her hair back haphazardly and just let it flow in the wind. A knock on the door snapped Regina out of her thoughts. She clenched her first, mentally berating herself for letting her mind wander back to the few good times of the past, it only made the harsh reality she was living now that much harder.

"Come in" She sighed, expecting no one more than a chambermaid to come tidy up her room. Instead, a young Snow White stood in the doorway in a sparkly white dress.

"Hello step-mother. You look beautiful." Snow said in a syrupy sweet voice. Regina cringed. Every moment spent in the presence of the child brought distinct pains in her chest. Each word she uttered was one that Daniel could not. What had she done to be cursed to such a trapped life as this?

"Hello Snow, you look very pretty as well." Regina's smile stopped at her mouth. Her eyes remained in their flat state.

"Thank you. Father says that the King and Queen are arriving. And they have brought their daughter, the Lost Princess!" Snow was now holding her dress in her two hands as she slightly swayed back and forth, a huge grin on her face. "Do you think she would like to play with me?"

"From what I have heard, the Lost Princess is all grown up. Around my age I presume" Regina said bitterly. How this princess could go missing for 20 years, proceed to find her way back into a life of freedom, entitlement, and royalty while Regina was stuck in a never-ending nightmare of jewel disguised servitude was beyond her.

"And how old are you again?" Snow blabbed. She never stopped talking. It was by far her most annoying trait.

"28. Shall we go greet them?" Regina snapped. She recovered quickly with a smile; it would not do for the precious Snow White to tell her father that her stepmother was being curt. Regina made her way out of her room and down the lengthy stone-embedded hallway to the grand foyer of the castle. Snow skipped behind her, completely oblivious to the tornado of feelings that were constantly whirling inside of Regina's hard exterior.

* * *

Upon arriving Regina made her way reluctantly to the two thrones that stood at the end of a long red carpeted runway. Leopold was already sitting in his own throne stiffly. He looked nervous, which seemed peculiar to Regina because King Michael was one of his closest allies. The two often entertained one another at balls, drinking the night away and flirting with all the young women. Regina racked her brain for the possible issues that would have caused this uncharacteristic fidgeting, but was interrupted by the doors which were wrenched open by the two guards who were permanently posted there.

Stalking through them good naturedly were King Michael and Queen Elizabeth. Michael was a large, burly looking man with a thick black beard. He wore a crown on his head and decorated robes that were commonly for the Kings. In fact, Leopold was wearing one of a remarkably similar nature, Regina noticed, as he rose to greet his friend.

Elizabeth stood next to Michael, quiet and proper. As always. Elizabeth was what any King would want in a Queen. She stood where she was supposed to, had perfect etiquette, only discussed the right topics with the other ladies at formal gatherings. She was everything that Regina hated. And the worst part about it all was that Regina could just tell, that she actually _enjoyed_ it all. Unconsciously, Regina snarled to herself.

"Hello Regina" Elizabeth softly said with a smile as she curtsied slightly.

"So nice to see you Elizabeth" Regina returned, now in full Queen mode. She said all the right things, went through the motions, but there was no emotion behind it. She moved as if operated by a person behind her. A puppet stuck moving as the puppeteers desires. This lack of emotion and her constant stone-eyed glare gained her the reputation of being icy and aloof.

Michael and Leopold hugged, immediately laughing and talking animatedly. All of Leopold's nerves seemed to have vanished into thin air, until a figure appeared behind the closing doors of the castle. When the guards saw the person standing outside they suddenly ripped the doors back open, apologizing and bowing furiously.

Through the doors walked a tall, blonde woman. She wore a simple, flowing forest green dress that was just tight enough for Regina to take a second glance. Regina had previously thought she was the only one who dared to push the strictly modest dress code with her plunging necklines and tightly wrapped dresses, but apparently she was not alone.

The unannounced woman continued to walk down the hall, quite uniquely actually. The woman did not glide as Elizabeth, and so many others of royalty did, but instead seemed to stalk purposely, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders.

"It's the lost princess" Snow White whispered next to Regina in awe. The whisper and slight tug on her dress startled Regina. She realized she had been mesmerized by the woman. Mentally shrugging it off, she composed herself. _Just her luck. Now she would have to entertain another entitled, brainless, proper-_

"Hi." The Lost Princess stood toe to toe with Regina. The mysterious woman had unexpectantly skipped the formal King then daughter then Queen greeting. In doing so she had succeeded in surprising Regina more in the last two minutes than Regina had been in the past six months. Since Regina had still yet to respond the Princess she spoke up again. "I'm Emma. I'm Michael and Elizabeth's…daughter." She struggled to finish as she flashed a shy smile.

"Hello. I'm Regina." Regina held out her hand expecting the woman to take it and curtsy. While Emma did take her hand, she did not curtsy. Instead, she slowly brought her hand to her pink lips and kissed it softly.

"Yes, I know who you are." Emma said while looking deeply into Regina's eyes. Regina was taken aback, confused, angered at the audacity of the other woman. To Regina, this type of behavior was a game, power play she was all too familiar with. This was exactly how the Princes and Kings seduced the women of the court to gain tactical advantages and allies.

Regina snatched her hand back and let it hang at her side, shooting a warning glare at Emma. Emma only smiled and shook her head as if she knew that Regina would do this. This only angered Regina more. Her body tensed up as she opened her mouth to snap at the woman, but just before she could say anything Emma took a few steps towards her parents and Leopold.

"This here is my beautiful daughter, Emma!" Michael merrily exclaimed as he put a hand on Emma's shoulder. Leopold visibly tensed but bowed slightly nonetheless while Emma curtsied.

"Nice to meet you Emma." Leopold said gruffly before changing the topic quickly, "So I must show you the new strategy tactics."

"Ah, yes!" Michael replaced his hand from Emma's shoulder to Leopold's as the two made their way into the war room.

"Emma you really do need to learn how to walk properly, you can't just go stomping around." Elizabeth chastised.

"I'm pretty sure no one cares about how I walk, Mother."

"Yes, they do."

"Well I've gone my whole life walking the way I do and I've been just fine. I'm going to walk around the grounds." Emma said as she pivoted quickly, and made her way back outside.

"She didn't even say hello to me!" Snow pouted. Regina smiled, maybe she would like this woman after all.

* * *

Regina turned and walked towards the balcony that stood on the side of the second floor of the castle. She spent most of her time there since it was where her apples trees, all of which had recently shriveled up from the intense heat of the summer, used to grow.

She stood in her normal place by the railing. It overlooked the valley and gave her a slight reprieve from the suffocating life that she was trapped in. Warm wind ran its fingers through her hair as she stepped to the edge of the railing.

There, just below the side of the castle stood Emma talking to one of the gardeners and his son. Regina recognized the little boy, because he was always trailing so close behind his father's heels that he would occasionally step on them, receiving a light "Watch your feet, boy!" from the older man. She was talking animatedly, hugging them both and waving her hands. They both seemed ecstatic to see her as well.

She picked up the little boy and twirled him around, a feat Regina could appreciate, in her tight dress. The small gesture was one of the most kind and humane things that Regina had seen in a surprisingly long time and it caused the corners of her lips to turn up slightly. Make no mistake, she was not smiling, but it was a step.

As if she had been alerted of Regina's overlooking presence, Emma turned her head up suddenly. Though it was too close for Emma to have actually looked Regina dead in the eye, Regina felt the intensity of the stare anyway. Emma waved and smiled at Regina, the little boy still in her arms.

Regina wasn't used to people trying to associate with her. Her reputation usually preceded her and others tended to remain polite, but distant when in her presence. This woman must not have gotten the message. _Doesn't she know what I'm like?_ Which was an extremely paradox thought in itself, considering not one person in the entire castle actually knew what she was really like.

"Regina, Come down. I want you to see something!" Emma shouted from below.

"No, I'm going to stay up here." Regina spoke as if Emma was standing mere feet away form her, she refused to raise her voice in such an unrefined manner.

"Come on! You'll like it, I promise."

"You know nothing of what I like," Regina had reached the end of her patience with this presumptuous woman.

"Please?" Emma begged, jutting her bottom lip out slightly. It disturbed Regina that she was looking at her hard enough to notice the minute detail from way up on the balcony. Regina growled and turned from the railing, stomping her way would show this woman how to treat a queen.

While thinking of all the wrathful ways she could repay her for this inconvenience Regina didn't notice that she had reached the spot that Emma, the gardener, and the little boy were standing. Yet again, cut off before she could get a word out, Emma pulled her hand and led her around the rounded edges of the castle into a little dip in the landscape.

Here, protected by a mysteriously placed mini balcony, stood an apple tree. It was so healthy that it seemed impossible it could have even lived in this land that was covered by scorched grass and wilted trees. The leaves gleamed a waxy forest green and the apples were so shiny Regina could see her reflection in a hanging one nearby.

"Wha…" Regina was stunned. No, completely dumbfounded. How in the world could this woman have known her connection to apple trees? How had she protected this tree from the drought? How on earth could she have even known that she liked nature, or anything for that matter. She had just met the woman minutes ago. An Endless stream of questions flowed through her head as she gazed at the tree before her. Emma watched her, content, and only a little bit proud of herself at the speechless state she had put Regina in.

"I don't understand. How could you possibly know?" Regina's tone was a little curt now. She was confused and wanted answers immediately. "No one except the castle servants know I have apple trees, and I doubt they even know I enjoy them."

She steeled her gaze at Emma. Emma fidgeted slightly, she hadn't really thought this far into the surprise. She didn't think Regina would be demanding answers this suddenly, a foolish miscalculation on her part. _You know this woman, of course she would be immediately skeptical. Come on Emma!_ She mentally smacked her forehead.

"Lets just say that one time when I was living up to the lost part of the Lost Princess title, I saw you standing out on your balcony, sitting under your apple trees. I figured you liked them and when I realized they would get ruined from the summer I arranged for uh... Jack, to plant one in this little cove I knew of." Emma answered.

She held her breath. Would she buy it in its entirety? Would she ask the gardener if he had actually planted it? He, of course, would have no idea what she was talking about. Would she ask if it was him who had watered it several times a day, and covered it from the sun? Would she know that all by herself she had painstakingly bought the baby tree from the village and carried it the mile and a half back to the castle?

If did, indeed, figure out all of these things, fine. Fine. She was going to find out eventually. But Emma could not bear the thought of Regina finding _why_ she had done it. Not yet. She needed time to explain. Time to show Regina that this whole time she had been living a nightmare in this castle, she had not been alone.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Should I ****continue? Reviews are appreciated, as always :)**


	2. Flowing Melodies

"_Lets just say that one time when I was a lost princess, I saw you standing out on your balcony, sitting under your apple trees. I figured you liked them and when I realized they would get ruined from the summer I arranged for uh...Jack, here, to plant one in this little cove I knew of."_

* * *

Regina was floored. She felt uneasy, like she was losing control of her carefully constructed exterior with every second that she stood there, gaping at the tree. Unable and unwilling to admit that the gesture could be nothing more than mere manipulation, she responded regally, "Well I suppose this way the castle isn't as dreary looking as it was, but I don't see how this little shrub," she spat out, "has anything to do with me."

With that she flattened her dress and turned back to return into the castle. Emma looked at the tree where a bird had landed on a branch. The small bird fluffed its chestnut feathers and stared back at Emma.

"I think she likes it." Emma said to the bird, a slight smile on her face. The bird cocked its head slightly and flew off. Emma watched the bird fly away and then began to walk back to the castle entrance. _Maybe I'll put a bench underneath it tomorrow, s_he thought to herself optimistically.

A chambermaid had been assigned to her and showed her to the room she would be staying in for the next month or so. Her father and King Leopold were planning a large attack on a far kingdom, something about stealing gold and redrawing kingdom lines. She had been completely unwilling to be involved in any part of the trip until she found out that they would be staying at Leopold's castle.

As Emma bathed she remembered the first time she had seen Regina smile. It had been such a small smile, one that was both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. She remembered they way Regina's lips had twitched before relenting. It had been so long since her face had moved in a expression other than a frown that to remember how to smile seemed laborious. But it had been worth it, because when she finally did, Emma was captured by the splinter of light that emerged from the all encompassing sadness that hung over the woman like a thunderous rain cloud.

Emma pushed herself up from the bath as the lukewarm water sloshed around the sides of the porcelain tub. She vowed then and there that a smile would be her next goal. She would make Regina smile, something that was no small feat. An hour later she emerged from her room wearing a black dress and was escorted by her chambermaid to dinner.

"What is your name?" Emma asked the woman as they walked to the dining hall.

"My name is Belle." The woman said shyly. She was dressed in a plain linen dress, her hair pulled back into a bun.

"That's a very pretty name."

"Oh, thank you." By this time they had entered the dining hall and Emma broke off from the woman to sit next to her parents at the long mahogany table that was piled of food.

Belle smiled as she backed away to go tidy up the other rooms. _'That's a very pretty name'_. It was the kindest thing someone had said to her in months. Such a breath of fresh air it was to have someone acknowledge her as a real person. She walked happily back down the hallway.

* * *

"Ah, Emma" Michael boomed, his rosy cheeks especially noticeable from the wine he and Leopold often indulged in while together.

"Hello father, how did strategizing go today?" Emma took her seat to the right of her mother, opposite her father.

"Great. Great! Yes we should have no problem reclaiming what land is ours. All will be well." He said joyfully as Leopold wholeheartedly nodded. The two began to jump right into war plans, shouting back and forth.

After a several minutes of this Regina waltzed into the dining hall. Still in her elegant blue dress, she was seated at the opposite end of the table as Leopold, who sat at the head. Regina's face was stoic, as usual, and she said nothing as Leopold invited them all to dig in to the mountain of food. The woman were expected to eat the salads and raw vegetables, nothing too heavy or detrimental to their figures. The butlers standing against the wall of the room came forward and put some salad on each of the women's plates while loading the Kings' plates up with rich meats smothered with sauces and gravies. After serving the table, they left the room.

Regina pushed the lettuce around on her fork, there was nothing more degrading than having the most delicious food in the entire kingdom at her disposal, yet not being allowed to eat it. She was sick of salad, but nonetheless choked down a few pieces. She looked over at Elizabeth who, of course, delicately ate her salad contently, wiping the corners of her mouth with every bite. _It's lettuce, what could she possibly be getting on her face?_

Emma on the other hand did not look even moderately pleased with the food that was placed in front of her. She turned the lettuce over a couple times before giving up on the limp leaves and scanning the table for something better to eat. Regina raised an eyebrow, now this was going to be intersting. She knew what happened when a women tried to eat the fatty foods provided for the men, a humiliating slap on the wrist and another pile of lettuce.

"Just as stupid as I expected" Regina muttered to herself. Emma had chosen her new meal, but instead of outrightly reaching for the butter roasted vegetables and braised chicken that she was eyeing she picked up the plate closest to her filled with some creamy rice dish and held it out to her father.

"Father, you must try this. It looks and smells irresistible. I know how well you enjoy such fine foods, and the rice in this land is but the best." Emma placed the plate into her father's now outreaching hands.

"You know me so well Emma. This looks perfect." He took the dish, scooped an overwhelming spoonful onto his plate. He then deposited the plate in front of himself. This caused the dishes littering the table to shift towards Emma. Mere inches away from her plate now sat none other than the roasted vegetable and chicken dish.

When no one, except Regina who had not been able to take her eyes off the whole interaction, was looking Emma slid some chicken and vegetables from the other plate to her own, hiding them under her large leafs of lettuce. She covered the majority of the food with her lettuce pieces but every once and awhile she pierced a roasted buttered vegetable or piece of chicken with her fork and quickly placed them in her mouth. She moaned quietly as she munched on the delicious food.

Regina's lips parted slightly and her jaw went slack. Emma had pulled off a feat that she had dedicated months attempting during her early days as Queen. While chewing on a piece of butter bathed zucchini Emma looked sideways at Regina who was now enviously glaring at her. The intense glare caused Emma to snort in an attempt to stifle a laugh. Elizabeth cast a stern glare at Emma, but she only shrugged it off. Regina returned back to her own plate of salad and did her best to look as if she was enjoying it.

"What's your favorite food?" Emma asked Regina in a hushed tone as she continued to secretly eat her chicken.

"Salad." Regina snapped, looking around to see if the others at the table were listening to this conversation but, as always, she appeared to be invisible.

"Wrong answer, try again. You're real favorite food this time." Emma said. Regina looked at Emma, she always felt like this woman was setting her up somehow.

"Salad." She said again.

"So if I accidently spilled some roasted duck on your plate, you wouldn't be too mad?" Regina scrunched her nose up slightly. She hated duck. She looked over to the plate of duck that sat near the middle of the table and her stomach clenched. Her gaze drifted to the plate next to it though, and her eyes zeroed in on the plate of salmon decorated in lemon and herbs. She looked at the dish longingly enough for Emma to take note of it.

"Well, you never said you liked things easy, did you?" Emma mumbled and took a depth breath. Her eyes flicked to each of the plates on the table, seemingly calculating something in her head. Regina tore her eyes away from the salmon. She looked at Emma who was fiercely concentrating on the food covering the table, her tongue slightly poking out the side of her mouth subconsciously. If Regina were her younger, more carefree self she would have found it endearing. In fact, she found it endearing now, but at least now she had enough self control to push the thought away.

Meanwhile, Emma had finished her grand plan. "Leopold this is the most impressive spread of food I have ever seen. I could not bear for you and my father not to try it all. Here, try this quail it looks amazing." She handed him a plate near her that was filled with pigeon pie. Leopold received the dish and looked down at it.

"But this is pigeon pie."

"Oh how foolish of me. Why don't you just put that next to you? Here is the quail." Leopold put the dish down next to him, pushing the plates one place down towards Regina. Emma picked up plate to the left of her, meanwhile pushing that row of plates farther away from her, and to Regina's right. "And father here is some corn chowder you cannot resist." Another set of plates shifted to the left. "And mother is this salad not delicious? I must have some more." Plates shifted like puzzle pieces. Left, forward, right, back.

"My daughter has such a passion for food" Michael boomed while digging into his plate. Emma grinned happily as she watched her mother grab the bowl of salad and give it to her. She placed some salad on her plate and squished the bowl into a placement to her left, successfully sliding the plate of salmon right in front of Regina's plate. Emma used the utensils sitting in the bowl to serve herself some lettuce. When returning the utensils back to the bowl for seconds, she pushed a piece of salmon onto Regina's plate and then plopped a bed of lettuce on top of it.

"Regina, really, you must try this salad." She said slyly and returned the utensils back to the bowl, this time left them there. She picked up her fork and resumed eating her pieces of chicken sneakily.

Regina, yet again, gaped. Through the whole fiasco of flying plates of food, Regina had sat there and gaped. The woman had caused a tornado of plate sharing so that she could have a piece of salmon. _Why?_ It was the thing that was gnawing at her most. _Why?_

At first, she vowed to stay strong, to ignore the fish underneath her lettuce, but after a little while she justified that if the butlers found it sitting there at the end of the meal it could cause a scene as well. Besides, the fact of the matter was that the smell that was wafting up from the herb encrusted fish was close to making her drool, if that sort of thing was even remotely adequate for a queen.

The single most confusing part about what had just occurred though, was that Emma was not staring at Regina waiting for a 'thank you', or expecting a sexy smile that promised more as many of the Princes and Dukes would have wanted for a favor done in her honor. She was simply eating her own food, halfheartedly listening to the conversation going on about the fate of the kingdoms.

Regina picked up her fork and pushed it into the buttery texture of the fish, making sure to cover it with a piece of lettuce so it was hidden on its way to her mouth. Just as Emma did, she moaned as she fish touched her tongue. It was everything her salad was not, delectable, buttery, flavorful. Emma heard the moan, looked over slightly, and gave her a warm smile.

Encompassed by the warm and elated feeling that a simple piece of fish was giving her, Regina's eyes softened, the corners of her lips twitched. A smile threatened to spill out, but Regina quickly recovered, stilling her face. Emma mentally fist pumped, it wasn't a smile, but it was a start.

* * *

The next day, Regina woke up to shouting and yelling outside. She quickly dressed and made her way to her balcony. There, she saw an extensive amount of carriages being readied. A maid came up behind Regina to give her some tea.

"Why are the carriages being brought out?" She asked.

"King Leopold and King Michael are leaving to journey to the Southern Kingdom in preparation for the war." The maid replied.

The servants of the castle always knew everything. Since no one considered them real people, important conversations were often held in their presence without a second thought. Regina snarled. She was not even respected enough to be kept up to date. She was thankful for the several week reprieve of her awful husband, but he could have at least told her. Instead, she knew less than the simple maid. She turned from the balcony and re-entered the castle.

Slowly, she walked through the halls as she did almost every day, drifting into each room mindlessly. There was nothing to do in this damn castle. She turned down the west hall and made her way to a seemingly abandoned room at the end of the hall. The room had a wall covered in a vast expanse of window that faced the backfields of the castle. Outside, the hills and grass went on forever, stretching freely to the horizon. The sunlight streamed into the room making the walls take on a pale yellow shade.

In the center of the room sat a grand piano. Regina walked over to the piano, running her fingers along the smooth surface of the top. She gazed out at the free landscape wishing more than anything she could be a part of it. Join it in its vast emptiness.

To her, those fields were unspoiled freedom. Who was she kidding, any place but the great castle she lived in was considered freedom. She circled around the piano, continuing to outline the corners with her fingers. When she reached the bench, she sat down, and stretched her feet out to the pedal. Her fingertips gently caressed the ivory keys, reveling in the smooth and perfect texture.

She pressed down gently on one key, and then another, until she was performing soft scales up and down the piano. Once thoroughly warmed up, she began to play, still very softly, each finger pressing down as little as possible to create vibrating notes from the giant piano.

Her hands roamed left and right as notes seemed to flutter out of the instrument: melodious and sweet. She decorated the flowing melody with sharp staccatos and long lasting pauses. Thoroughly immersed by the music, she didn't realize that Emma had appeared in the doorway, her body leaning slightly against the door frame. Her head rest on the wall.

Emma listened to the flowy music that filled the entire room. She was amazed that such a tactful and prickly seeming woman could create such tender music. Regina was not playing one specific song, but instead would play a tune for a little, and then shift to something different spontaneously. Emma shifted her body a little to accommodate the leg that was receiving the brunt of her weight. The movement was caught out of Regina's peripherals. Her moving hands froze and her head snapped to look at Emma.

"What are you doing here?" She said icily. But Emma was not fooled, the music that the woman had just been playing spoke more about who she was than the tough exterior she presented to others.

"I was exploring the castle and I heard music. You play beautifully."

"You shouldn't' be here." Regina said harshly. After a moment she quietly added, "No one has ever heard me play before" as she looked down at her hands which remained frozen on the keys. She slid them off, reaching for the piano cover over the keys. Emma took a few brisk strides to reach Regina's side within seconds. She put her hand over Regina's on the cover and slowly pushed it back into its place, freeing the expanse of keys to the air above them.

Regina looked up at Emma when their hands touched, a shock running up her arm from the contact. She couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her that gently. Emma slid onto the wooden bench next to Regina, their hips softly brushing against one another. Regina continued to stare at Emma, unsure of what she was trying to do. Emma looked into Regina's deep brown eyes with her own emerald ones. She pushed her golden locks behind her shoulders.

"Play for me" She said. It was not a request, or a demand. She said it was as if Regina would be doing Emma a favor by showing her this. And Emma knew it was. It was something so precious, for Regina to show even a splinter of herself to anyone, that Emma did not intend to take it for granted. Out of some impulsivity, Regina did not push up her iron clad walls as she usually did. Instead, she yet again, brushed her fingers along the keys for mere seconds before pressing down. After a few moments, it was as if she had never stopped.

The music seemed to overwhelm her system and the second she was given the opportunity to release it onto the piano, she couldn't stop. The tune she played started out tender and soft, but there were points where the beat sped up, points where her fingers jumped quickly from key to key. While Regina continued to strum the keys, Emma lifted her hands and began to play next to Regina. She focused mainly on the lower notes of the piano since Regina's span was limited to the higher octaves. She played a relatively subtle tune, one that was accented by Regina's now sharp and jumpy playing. Regina's emotions flowed through her hands into the piano.

Regina had only meant to play her normally soft tunes, but suddenly all her anger, hopelessness and anxiety seemed to be jumping around inside of her, begging to be released. She pounded on the keys passionately, her face remained stoic.

They seemed to meld together seamlessly. _How did she know exactly what her fingers decided to play next?_ Regina wondered. Every time she switched to a new pattern of notes, Emma's own fingers would blindly follow, compensating for the change immediately. Soon, tears were streaming slowly down Regina's face, each pound on the keys or chord played out causing a flash of a memory in her head. Sneaking kisses with Daniel behind the stables appeared as her fingers pressed on a B. Her mother whipping her with a magically whip, G. Daniel's heart being ripped out before her eyes, C flat. The night of her wedding with Leopold. F sharp. F sharp. F sharp. Snow White telling her mother about Daniel and ruining her life, her left hand balled into a fist, ready to pound.

Emma's right hand caught her balled fist in the air while her left hand continued to play. The melody was slow and relaxing, as it had remained the whole time. Emma did not look at Regina, but continued to fix her gaze down at her hands. She knew the scene that was unfolding would become too real to Regina if she looked up at her. Regina's fist stayed still in Emma's hand. Emma continued to hold it up until she felt the fingers of the clutched fist uncurl slowly. Regina turned to look at her hand which was still covered with Emma's slightly calloused one.

She watched as Emma slowly brought her hand back down to the piano and placed it on the keys. Emma's fingers began to put pressure on Regina's, guiding her fingers to press down on the ivory keys beneath them.

Slowly, Emma began to direct Regina to play a new rhythm. One neither fast, nor particularly slow. It seemed to flutter from note to note without pauses or breaks. It reminded Regina of the wind, drifting and flowing here and there. Satisfied that Regina had learned the rhythm, Emma returned her hand back to her own keys and continued to play.

They continued for a while until Emma's playing slightly tapered off, slowing continuously until she punctuated the last note, and lifted her hands off the piano. They both sat still for a brief time, eyes cast down. Emma was the first to look up at Regina, who had dry tear tracked cheeks and slightly red eyes. Regina returned the look, fully diving into Emma's eyes. _How were they so green?_ Emma cleared her throat, which had become dry from lack of use.

"Like I said, you play beautifully." Emma said. Regina continued to look at this woman who had just inadvertently sat through her own breakdown of sorts without asking why, without demanding gratification for the nice thing she was doing, without making Regina feel belittled or embarrassed by the distressed emotional state she had shown.

"I don't understand" Regina said softly. She didn't know how this woman, whom she had only shown the rougher edges of her personality to, as she did with everyone else, could be so understanding. So different.

"What don't you understand?"

"How do you seem to know what I'm thinking when I'm acting the opposite way?" Regina felt utterly exposed, and was having difficulties remaining in character. It was easy when people immediately thought the worst of her and treated her disrespectfully. But she was at a lost at what to do with someone who looked beyond all she had created and into the vulnerable self that she so desperately want to break out.

"It's your eyes," Emma said after weighing it back and forth in her head.

"My eyes?"

"Your mouth projects the intimidating persona you want people to see, but your eyes are…sad." Regina's lips turned downward.

"My eyes are sad? How very rude of you to say." Regina barked. Emma was breaking through too many barriers at once. Emma only responded to the snap with a tilt of her head and a knowing smirk. This illicit a frustrated growl from Regina.

"You forget. I always know what you're thinking. _Even_ when you're acting the opposite way. So, Regina. I know you're racking your brain for ways I could be manipulating you, using you, attempting to seduce you," the moment 'seduce' had left Emma's pink lips goose bumps littered Regina's arms. Regina ignored the prickly and surprisingly pleasant sensation, "but I promise I'm not. While everyone else in this kingdom may be clueless and completely idiotic, I'm different. And when you're willing to let a friend in. Or even just someone who could maybe make this whole life you're living a little more enjoyable, let me know. Because I will happily be that for you." Emma finished, stood up, and exited the room whose rays had shifted downward with the setting sun.

The minute that Emma had left the room Regina's brain launched a full fledge attack between the two conflicting ideas: to remain alone, or to let someone in and risk getting burned yet again.

She didn't even know if she had the humanity left within her to maintain a friend. Not to mention a lover. _What? lover?_ Regina shook her head. What in the world was she thinking? Emma didn't want to be her lover. No one wanted to be her lover. How could they? She was broken, shattered, obliterated, in complete and irreversible pieces. The only one who had loved her had died, because of her. No, she couldn't love again. But maybe Emma could relieve some of her boredom that plagued her days.

She pushed away from the piano and concreted her conclusion. She would humor Emma, allow her to entertain her the way a jester or the theater would, then she would go on her way back to her own kingdom and everything would resume back to normal. The only problem was, that Regina's worst fear, the absolute worst outcome of the whole situation, was that her life would resume back to normal.

* * *

**Reviews appreciated! Thanks!**


	3. Picnic at the Pond

**A/N: Another chapter down! A little bit more background revealed about Emma. Hope everyone likes it!**

* * *

"Hey Regina, watch this!" Emma picked up three apples that sat in the basket near her and attempted to juggle them. They flew through the air for a few seconds before toppling to the ground. Regina was sitting on a stone bench beneath the apple tree Emma had planted for her, reading a book. She watched the blonde woman fail at juggling, suppressed the twitching at the corners of her lips, and resumed back to her book. _Seems like Emma is living up to the jester part of our arrangement _she chuckled to herself.

It was a beautiful day, one of the first that was not ruined by the scorching sun. All the inhabitants of the castle seemed to be milling around outside, wanting to take advantage of the weather, maids found every task they could possibly do that allowed them to be in the sun, even creatively coming up with new random tasks up such as wiping down the stone castle walls. The gardeners and landscapers worked laboriously, tending to the gardens and walkways. Emma was wandering around the courtyard finding things to entertain herself for a few minutes at a time.

After a little while Roland, one of the gardeners' son ran over to Emma, a dog following in his wake.

"Hi Emma. Look who I found!" Roland screamed as he ran around her, the dog sprinting around as well.

"Aw! And who is this?" Emma reached down and gave the dog a good rub behind the ears.

"His name is Spot. Except he doesn't have spots, but that's okay." Roland said. Emma chuckled.

"Alright then. Does he know any tricks?"

"No, I don't think so. Lets teach him how to shake his paw."

"Okay you go get some treats for him and we will turn this pup into a perfect doggie gentlemen." Emma said. Roland raced off to get Spot some treats while Emma began to train the dog to sit, lifting up its paw and rewarding it with 'good boy' afterwards.

Regina looked up from her book, watching Roland as he raced back to Emma. The two were adorably adamant about teaching the Spot to shake. They would laugh and cheer whenever the dog did anything that even remotely resembled lifting its paw. A smile tugged at Regina's lips and she found that for once, it won out, spreading across her face. She watched as Emma jumped up and down, her arms in the air when Spot succeeded in shaking. Her unruly blonde curls bounced up and down.

She found herself staring at Emma's hair. It was beautiful. Maybe it was the way the sunlight was hitting it, whatever the reason, it didn't matter. She pushed the thought down into her subconscious, just as she did with most of her emotional thoughts. She was confused though, how comfortable Emma and Roland seemed to be with each other.

If she was correct, they had only met days before, but here in front of her, they looked like long lost friends. Maybe Emma was just really good with kids, she thought to herself. She didn't realize that Emma was jogging over to her and was quite startled when a voice broke her daydreaming.

"Regina I have someone I would like you to meet"

"Hm?" Regina hummed questioningly.

"This is Spot. Spot, meet Regina." Emma nudged the dog to sit in front of Regina as Roland stood behind Regina's back holding a treat in the air.

"Shake." He whispered behind Regina. Spot lifted up his paw to Regina. Regina took the dog's paw, amused at the dog's eagerness to please in order to get the treat that Roland still held out.

"Nice to meet you Spot." She said rather seriously, for someone who was talking to a dog.

"Yes!" Emma and Roland cheered. Roland gave Spot the treat and petted him all over, showering him with 'good dog!', 'Yay Spot!'. Regina shook her head and returned to her book. This was the entertainment that was supposed to be spicing up her life? Little did she realize, that not only had the creases that normally lined her forehead relaxed over the course of the afternoon, her lips also rested from their normally pursed state.

"Did you eat lunch yet?" Emma asked. Roland and Spot had gone running around the castle, no doubt to show everyone else the new trick.

"No."

"Perfect. I'll be right back." Emma ran off into the castle and returned moments later with a basket and a blanket.

"Okay, let's go. I packed us lunch." Emma panted, slightly winded from jogging.

"Where are we going?"

"Can't tell you! It's a surprise. But we have to walk there through the woods."

"If you think I am getting this dress dirty to traipse around in the woods like some peasant, you are sorely mistaken." Regina said condescendingly.

"Oh please Regina, get over yourself. You'll have fun."

"Don't forget who you are talking to _Emma_. You will not disrespect a queen like that." Regina barked.

"Yes, _your majesty_."Emma drawled sarcastically, "Please don't go getting your panties in a bunch. Now can we go? Unless you're too scared of what stands beyond these grounds.." Regina let a frustrated puff of air out. If a challenge was what Emma wanted, then a challenge is what she should get.

"Let's go," She growled, slamming her book shut. Emma didn't walk on eggshells like all the rest around Regina and it infuriated her to no end. The two women walked across the grounds and into the entrance of the woods. Emma slowed her pace considerately due to the heels Regina was sporting. They followed a winding path diligently. After ten minutes or so, Emma sharply cut off the path and trudged through a thicket, holding the branches back as Regina followed through them.

Beyond the thicket stood a small pond. Surrounding the pond were giant, spindly trees that bent over the water dramatically. Emma picked a spot underneath one of the trees and spread out the blanket. Regina was speechless by the pond's beauty, how had she not known about this spot?

"Are you going to sit down?" Emma said from the blanket.

"How did you know about this place?" Regina asked as she gracefully sat down, crossing ankles to the side of her and spreading her dress out over her legs.

"Uh….J-Jack told me about it." Emma stuttered. Regina found it strange how untruthful the statement sounded, but not knowing any reason that Emma would need to lie about this, she let it go.

"It's very peaceful" Regina said quietly as she looked out at the water fleas leaping from point to point on the still water.

"Yes, it is." Emma said, mapping the lines on Regina's face.

After a moment Emma cleared her throat, "Okay so we have sandwiches and fruit and some cheese as well." She started to empty the food onto the blanket one by one. She handed Regina her sandwich and spread out the fruit and cheese onto a plate.

"Mmmm" Regina hummed appreciatively as she bit down into the sandwich. She might keep Emma around just so that she could sneak her food all the time.

"When Snow saw me packing the basket this morning, she wanted to tag along." Emma said indifferently as she munched on her turkey sandwich.

"What did you say to her?" Regina asked after choking a bit on her food, rushing to soothe her throat with water.

"I told her no. I didn't think you would want her to come."

"And why in the world would you think that? Because I'm some evil, cold hearted witch?" Regina spat out, the irony not lost on her. She had been practicing magic with Rumplestilskin for a few months now, slowly developing her magical skills for further use. She didn't much more other than the fact that Rumplestilskin had told her that he had a plan for her.

"I don't know, you just don't seem to really like her that much." Emma shrugged.

"You feel bad for her don't you? You can't fathom how I can treat such an innocent, perfect child that way." Regina was beginning to stand up, but Emma put her hand on her arm, stilling her.

"Jesus Regina. Who did this to you? Who made you like this?" Emma knew exactly who did this to Regina, exactly who made her like this, but refrained from pointing it out. It still wasn't the right time.

"Made me like _what?_" Regina was hissing now, venom dripping from her tongue.

"So defensive and guarded. I assumed that you didn't like Snow because you had a reason. That somehow Snow had done something to you, whether directly or indirectly." Regina froze from her mid standing position and looked at Emma incredulously.

"You think she did something to me?"

"Well why else would you have such disdain for her?" Emma said so simply, as if it were obvious. Regina knew otherwise, she had never in her life been given benefit of the doubt. She had always taken on the role of the bad guy when it came to her treatment of Snow. She mostly kept her feelings hidden, but with all the hate that she had for Snow White, a cold and snippy demeanor towards her was the best she could do. Regina sat back down on the blanket looking utterly exhausted.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. She did do something to me." Regina whispered. Emma continued to eat her sandwich. A silence enveloped them both.

"Aren't you going to ask what she did?" Regina said after a moment. Her hands found their way back to the food.

"Do you want to tell me?" Emma asked. Regina paused.

"Not really, no."

"Then I won't ask" Emma crookedly smiled. Regina for her part, seemed to want to return the sentiment, but could only tighten her lips briefly. The two ate in comfortable quietness. Emma leaned back on her elbows and Regina sat with her back ramrod straight as usual. When Regina had finished her food, she wiped her face with a napkin and lie back onto the blanket, sighing as her head rested on the ground.

"Snow once betrayed a secret of mine," she said while exhaling. Emma turned her head, which was now also lying on the blanket, and looked at the profile of Regina's face that still faced upwards at the sky. "Because she couldn't keep her mouth shut, she took something away from me, someone who can never be replaced." Her voice caught midway through the sentence, filled with grief. Emma reached over and touched Regina's hand. Regina flinched.

"You know, before I realized I was a princess, I lost someone too. Someone I loved." Regina turned her head toward Emma and caught her gaze.

"How exactly did you become the Lost Princess?" She questioned, everyone had always talked about it but no one seemed to ponder how the two idiots Michael and Elizabeth lost their child in the first place.

"When I was a baby, there was a prophecy told that I would stop a great storm from ruining the realm."

"No such storm could ruin the entire realm" Regina said logically, but Emma just gave her eyes that said 'bear with me here'. Emma began again.

"So a great wizard, or so I'm told, kidnapped me from my castle, apparently it was his storm that I would be ruining. He left me in the woods, content at the fact that I would be eaten by the wolves. But, as you know, I wasn't.

Instead, a peasant father and son found me and took me in. They raised me as their own. I played in the woods, rode horses all day, worked on the little farm we had. One day, when I was 26. I went to town to buy some flour, but they didn't have any in stock. So I traveled to the next village over, quite a long trip, but it was a nice day so I went anyway. When I got to that town I bought the flour just as I had planned. I was about to leave I saw a flyer on the wall. One that had constantly been replaced for 26 years. It spoke of a lost princess who wore a swan necklace. Anyone who gave information to the King and Queen was rewarded. I looked down and realized that I was wearing that same necklace in the picture. I thought, 'maybe this means that they knew information about my parents'. At least maybe they would know the jeweler who made the necklace, that would give me a location," Regina laughed.

"Oh how very dense you are" Regina said with only a little sting, Emma only gave her a playful glare.

"If you grew up in the woods you would have a hard time believing you were a princess too!"

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Continue." Regina ordered, forgetting Emma was not one to bow down to her needs like her subjects.

"Anyway, I went to the royal castle and met with the King and Queen. One look at my necklace and they were off their thrones, begging to get a closer look. When they turned it over and saw Emma engraved into the back of it they demanded to know where I got it from. I told them the tale my father had told me about finding me in the woods, already wearing the necklace. They realized that I was their lost daughter and from then on I was the Lost Princess.

"What happened to your father, in the woods?" Regina asked. Emma's face lined with distress.

"He still lives out there. I've tried to get him to move to the castle with me, but he knows that it would be no life he could live."

"And your brother?"

"He…died." Emma whispered, just audibly.

"I'm sorry." Regina said sadly. Her heart may be damaged and black, but it was not completely dead.

"Yeah. I don't really fit in as a Princess. I hate all the rules and appearences."

"Really? And here I thought you were a proper lady. You stick out like a sore thumb in royal settings." Regina joked. Emma responded by nudging her.

"You like it." Emma said with another nudge and a joking smile.

"Yes, I suppose I do." Regina mumbled to herself, not quite loud enough for Emma to hear.

"Let's go swimming" Emma said abrubtly as she hopped up off the blanket. She knelt down and felt the water with her fingertips. "It's perfect temperature." She looked at Regina.

"We don't have anything to wear…" Regina's protests died in her throat as Emma began to pull at the hem of her shirt, lofting it up and over her head. Her bare back was smooth and tanned. Bending down, she peeled off her rather form fitting pants, leaving only her underwear on. Regina sat completely frozen, a piece of fruit limply hanging from her clenched fingers.

She wanted to look away, but instead found her eyes tracing up and down Emma's spine as the muscles rippled with each minute movement. Meanwhile, Emma dove into the pond, the water rippling around her lean and taut body. Regina's eyes were now as wide as they possibly could be. During the brief period of time that Emma was underwater from her dive, Regina schooled her features and flattened her dress once again.

"Come in, it feels so good!" Emma was floating on her back in the calm, blue water, her breasts just breaking the surface. Regina's eyes followed Emma as she floated around the water like a predator watching her prey. Lustful thoughts overflowed her mind. When Emma finally swam over the edge of the lake, Regina snapped out of her thoughts.

"So are you coming in?" Emma asked innocently. She had never been ashamed of her body, or others for that matter. When you grow up poor and in the woods, outside baths are often and you quickly get over the shock of nudity.

"…No. I need to go." Regina was overwhelming by the fluttering in her stomach and needed to get out of there pronto. She quickly walked back down the trail that led them there and sped into the castle. Emma remained in the water, wondering what she had done wrong.

* * *

Regina was paced in her room, talking to herself.

"I am married to a disgusting old man, I haven't been with anyone I've actually remotely liked since Daniel." She tried to rationalize the crush-like reaction she was having to Emma's near naked body.

"Emma's a princess. It's the power I'm attracted to."

"I would be attracted to anyone at this point." She continued to pace back and forth, still unintelligibly mumbling.

"Keep walking like that dearie, and you'll wear the floor thin." Rumplestilskin said as he appeared magically.

"What are you doing here?" Regina deadpanned.

"What a welcome host you are. I'm here to teach you more magic of course." He flicked his hands around animatedly.

"I don't want to learn right now. I'm busy."

"No one is every busy enough to change their life, Regina." He said. Regina walked over to the window.

"My life is fine right now Rumple, Go away." She said as confidently as she could, faking the strength she knew she did not really contain.

"Very well, your Majesty." And with that Rumplestilskin disappeared in a tornado of smoke. Regina knew that there was no way he had just accepted defeat, he always had something up his sleeve. But what it was, she wouldn't find out until he wanted her too. She picked up her pace back and forth again, wringing her hands.

* * *

During this time, Emma had dried herself off, packed the picnic blanket back up, and started to head back to the castle. On her way, Roland ran up to her from the woods, clinging to her side.

"Hi Emma!"

"Hey Roland."

"Where were you?"

"I was on a picnic. I went to that pond we used to go to sometimes when you were really young."

"Oh the ones with the twisty trees?"

"Yeah, that one." Emma sighed. The picnic hadn't really gone as planned and she hoped that she didn't say or do something to make Regina that mad. She didn't think taking her clothes off to go swimming was a big deal, but apparently it had been too improper for Regina.

"Were you with Queen Regina?"

"Yes. Although I don't think she had a good time."

"Does she really not remember you when you were here before?" His innocent eyes looked up from beside her thigh as stood next to her, holding her hand.

"No, Roland. She doesn't."

"But how! You worked in the gardens for almost a full year!" Roland thought of Emma as more of a superhero than a real person, he couldn't imagine anyone not noticing her.

"There are a lot of people that work here. She can't remember all of them. Plus we never talked or anything."

"But you put flowers on her bed every morning" Roland said confusedly.

"She didn't know that I did that. Don't forget Roland, we can't tell her just yet that I know her" Emma bent down, eye to eye with Roland.

"Okay."

"Promise me?"

"I promise." Emma smiled at him as he gave her wide eyes.

"Hey Emma?"

"What?"

"I know you really like her." He said simply. Emma smiled, the kid had no idea. She did not merely like Regina. She was utterly and hopelessly in love with the woman, had been for awhile now. And Regina had not a clue, not even a sliver of returned feelings for Emma. Emma exhaled a large breath as her shoulders sagged with the weight of the world on them.


	4. A Princess in the Stars

**A/N: If a chapter itself could be named The Calm Before the Storm, this one would be it. Enjoy the fluff! **

**Rating will most likely go up to M after this chapter for some darker themes. **

* * *

Midmorning the next day, Regina looked out and saw Emma riding a horse around the fields of the castle. Her heart ached in jealousy. What she would give to be able ride and not relive the pain of Daniel's death in her arms. She watched Emma a little longer, her hair flying free in the wind. Her thoughts drifted from her late Daniel to the fond memory of Emma and their picnic.

Her thoughts getting hazy as she thought of Emma stripping off her clothes. She mentally slapped herself at how inconsiderate, how terribly awful it was for her to think that she could just forget Daniel, even if it was just during an enjoyable afternoon. She felt as though she was betraying his memory. Vowing then and there, she decided she would treat Emma as any of the other royal guests that had visited her castle before, with a cold shoulder and an offstandish disposition. No, she could not indulge in Emma's wish to unhinge her from her tightly wound personality. And so with this, the days of keeping Emma at arms length began.

Two days later. Emma was bored. Regina had denied all of her requests to go on adventures in the village, or even for another picnic at the pond. She knew she had made Regina uncomfortable when swimming, but she didn't think she would take it this far. She spent her time playing with Spot or Roland, sometimes she wandered around the castle. It wasn't even comparably pleasant to the time spent with Regina.

Day 3. Emma sat next to Regina as they both read underneath the apple tree. Regina was normally very concentrated when reading, but with Emma next to her she found herself distracted by the woman's shifts and fidgets. Emma was fully engrossed in her book, but would run her hands through her air every once and awhile, or twirl an apple that sat in her lap by the stem. Each of these movements caused Regina to look up, anger and frustration growing at the woman who was ruining her peace and quiet.

Day 5. Regina sat at dinner, alone. Well, nearly alone. Emma was supposed to be with her but instead only the insufferable Snow sat across from her. The doors to the kitchen opened and the chef walked out. Regina sighed, another day as per usual. Everything the same, all the time.

Regina didn't realize that behind the chef walked Emma, holding her very own homemade plates in her hand. She snuck behind Regina, leaning down as she placed the warm dish in front of her. "I hope you like it, I made it myself." Emma said quietly near Regina's ear. Regina turned suddenly, startled at the intrusion of her personal space.

Regina opened her mouth to chastise Emma for her lack of proper etiquette by spending time in the kitchen, but Emma was off, walking back to the swinging doors. Regina hated to admit how overwhelmingly disappointed she was when Emma didn't return to join them for the rest of dinner.

Day 6. Regina watched Emma like a hawk as talked with Belle in the library. Belle had always been a good maid, never getting in Regina's way, never overstepping her boundaries. She was considered to be very pretty by any of the peasants in the town. Her brown hair always swept back in a bun, her face soft and cheery. It wasn't that Regina hated that Belle was talking to her per say. It was more that Belle was _talking_ to her.

Belle was slightly leaned into Emma, her hand resting on Emma's arm as she gave her book recommendations. Emma, completely oblivious, just seemed extremely thankful that someone was helping her narrow down her book choices. Regina sat on a nearby chair, with a book propped up in her hand, scowling at the flirting that was happening before her eyes.

She appeared to be engrossed in the novel, but if asked, she wouldn't have been able to recall the title since her eyes never left the conversation happening in front of her. When Emma laughed loudly at something Belle said Regina slammed her book shut and stormed out of the room. The two women to stared at the empty doorway that Regina had just exited out of.

Later, Day 6. Regina finally gave up the charade. She couldn't avoid Emma forever, she justified to herself. Plus, more time with Emma meant less time with Snow. And she most definitely preferred anything over Snow. She groaned to herself. It wouldn't hurt to have a friend. A friend might be nice, she thought, even if it was going to be a painful process in the making.

She got up and returned to the library, where she hoped Emma would still be despite the fact that the thought of her and Belle spending the entire afternoon together made her cringe. When she walked into the library Emma was sitting with her legs folded underneath her absorbed into a book that rest on her lap. She didn't hear Regina enter the room.

"Emma." Regina said commandingly, still very unsure about this whole situation.

"What?" Emma was startled by Regina's intrusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Reading a book."

"Where is that…Belle?" Regina spat the name Belle.

"I don't know, she left after I found a book to read. Why? Do you need her?" Emma wondered curiously.

"Oh, no." Regina stood there awkwardly, she wasn't use to sharing her feelings. Or letting anyone know what she was thinking even remotely. So she and Emma just stared at each other.

"Were you…" Emma began to say.

"I wouldn't mind if we became acquaintances so that my life here might be slightly more enjoyable during your stay." She said all too formally. Emma knew what she meant and a sly grin spread on her face.

"You want to be friends?"

"I don't have friends." Regina snapped. Which was all-together an unreasonable explanation considering that was the exact reason she was seeking Emma's 'acquaintance'.

"But you want to be my friend?"

"I suppose, for your own sake, that arrangement can be made." Regina put her hands on her hips.

"Or….for once in your life you could admit that you like me. And like hanging out with me." Emma said, her book still in her hands. Regina sighed exasperatedly and opened her mouth to say something, but Emma interrupted her.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I won't push. Yes, Regina I would like to be friends with you. I was going crazy in this place while you were ignoring me anyway." Regina didn't dwell on the fact that her heart beat rapidly when she realized that Emma had not only missed her companionship, but had noticed that she was ignoring her.

"But there is one rule." Emma began.

"What?" Regina had already been through enough emotional turmoil today.

"You go somewhere with me tonight."

"And where would that be?" Regina didn't like the sound of whatever Emma had up her sleeve.

"Tonight, I'll show you. Don't worry. Wear something warm." Emma said mysteriously as she got up from the couch, closed her book, and walked out of the library.

* * *

That night, Regina sat in her room nervously. She was so much safer on her own. Even just talking to someone on a daily basis made her uncomfortable that she was opening up too much. "I'm going to regret this_," _she muttered to herself. Emma popped in Regina's doorway.

"Hey!"

"Hello" Regina said stoically, projecting acute boredom.

"Are you ready?"

"Depends on what we're doing." Regina said.

"I can't tell y…wait is that what you're wearing? Emma raised her eyebrows at Regina's outfit.

"This is a perfectly good dress. You should be more concerned with what you're wearing." Regina said snippily.

"Nope, this is not going to work." Emma waved her hands at Regina. Regna was dressed in one of her regal dresses that she wore every day. In fact, she had simply not changed from her diner attire earlier that day. Emma, on the other hand, was wearing dark brown riding pants that looked similar to ones she was wearing a couple of days ago and a loose cream colored cotton shirt. The front of the shirt was cut into a deep V and then laced up with leather string. It all looked awfully peasant-esque.

"What do you suppose I wear then?" Regina was not in the mood to be criticized. She was going on this awful adventure for Emma in the first place. What more did she want from her?

"I'll be right back." With that, Emma raced out of the room, returning minutes later with a pile of clothes in her hands. She turned around to face the wall, "I won't look I promise." Regina stood still with her arms full of the clothes. She was most definitely not used to being ordered around by someone else, and on top of that, she wasn't comfortable changing in front of Emma. A thought she didn't dare to analyze since she changed in front of the maids all the time. Somehow it was different.

"I may need some help getting my dress off." Regina said shyly.

"Uh…Can I turn around?"

"Yes, you can." Emma turned around to see Regina in the exact same spot that she was when Emma threw the clothes in her arms.

"The maids usually help me take my dress off, but I knew we were going out tonight, so I told them to go away." Regina was looking down at the ground, completely embarrassed that she needed to rely on Emma to get her dress off of all things.

"Oh. Yeah. I got it." Emma walked towards Regina who slowly turned around. She was now facing a full-length mirror and watched Emma closely as she approached behind her. Emma slowly raised her hands to the string that held the back of Regina's dress closed and undid the knot at the top.

Her hands were shaking slightly at the excitement and nervousness that the close proximity to the woman brought upon her. After the knot was undone she unlaced the string from each of the holes, the expanse of Regina's back coming more and more into her view. Regina, on the other hand, stood frozen, watching Emma's face scrunch in concentration through the mirror. She shivered as Emma's hand brushed against her back.

"Oh. Sorry." Emma blushed, she noticed how Regina had tensed up when her fingertips made contact with her back.

"It's okay," Regina whispered, the breath slightly gone from her lungs. When Emma hand unlaced the entire back of Regina's dress she backed away and turned around again.

"Okay you can change now. I'm turning around." Regina unfolded the clothes still in her arms and hastily shrugged off her dress. Emma had given her tight pants just like her own, a tight dark green shirt and a brown vest. She looked in the mirror with the clothes on. The outfit reminded her so much of her younger days that she was shocked into silence. After awhile had passed of her just staring into the mirror. Emma cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes. One…more thing." Regina quickly took out the jewel-studded clip that held her hair into a twisted updo. With the clip gone, her scalp was instantly relieved of pressure. It felt great to have her wavy tresses falling around her shoulders. "Okay. Ready." She said. Emma turned around and her eyes opened widely.

"Uh…." Emma trailed off. Regina, who already felt out of her comfort zone was immediately mortified. _She must look like an idiot, what was she thinking? She wasn't eighteen anymore_. She whirled around and tried to gather her hair in one hand as she reached for the clip with the other.

"No, no. Stop." Emma walked up behind Regina and, as she has so many times already, placed her arm calmly on her shoulder, willing her to still. Regina relented, stopping her frantically moving hands and looked at Emma through the mirror. Her face was hard, but her eyes screamed fear.

"You just look very different. Very beautiful." Emma said as a pink blush spread across her face. Regina looked down as a very similar blush covered her own. A small smile formed on her lips.

"Well. Since I've embarrassed myself thoroughly enough for tonight. Let's go." Emma said as she fidgeted around. Regina's lips to curled upwards as she followed Emma out of the room.

* * *

Emma led Regina to the end of the grounds and through the woods again, staying near the edge so that the little moonlight that illuminated the sky could filter in through the trees. After walking for what seemed like an eternity of uncertainty, which happen to be closer to twenty minutes, Emma turned around suddenly. Regina, who had been watching where her feet fell in the dirt, crashed into her.

"Oomf" The breath was knocked out of Regina's lungs. The two women who were now chest-to-chest stared at each other. _Why the hell does my body seem to erupt into shock whenever I'm close to this woman? _Regina wondered as her heart pounded in her chest. _God, I don't think I'm going to be able to survive if this keeps happening again,_ Emma cursed in her head.

"Sorry, I just. Put this on." Emma held out a linen blindfold between the two women.

"You've got to be kidding me." Regina said dryly.

"Nope. It'll be worth it. Just put it on." Emma said mischievously. Regina could tell Emma was enjoying her position of power and snatched the blindfold from her and tied it over her eyes.

"If I step on anything, or twist my ankle I swear…"

"…Oh don't worry. I've got you" Emma latched onto Regina's arm and began to lead her forward. Directing her to step here, go a little over there. After a few minutes Regina felt the rocky and uneven terrain of the woods turn into soft grass that bent beneath her feet.

"Okay." Regina could feel Emma reach up and gently untie the knot of the blindfold at the back of her head. She blinked to adjust to the incoming light that filtered into her eyes. What she saw immediately took her breath away.

The dark night air was filled with fireflies. Little, glowing bugs flitted and looped through the air all around her. They contrasted against the midnight background of the forest beautifully. Looking up, Regina realized that the fireflies resembled the stars almost identically. She liked the idea of being surrounded by stars.

"Do you like it?" Emma asked hopefully.

"I love it." Regina answered. She was so enchanted by the scene that she had inadvertently forgotten to school her face as she always did. This left her bare and utterly exposed. Emma was captured. The pure awe and gentleness on Regina's face made her pulse race. She sat down on an overturned log as Regina walked around the small clearing, marveling at the fireflies.

"They remind me of the stars." Emma said after a long stretch of silence.

"I thought that too."

"Sometimes I like to come here lay on the ground as still as I can. That way more and more fireflies come out. It feels like I'm in the middle of the universe.

"How many times have you come here?" Regina was beginning to notice how familiar Emma seemed in places that should be new to her.

"A lot."

"How?" Regina, who was previous distracted by the scene, turned her full attention toward Emma.

"I'll tell you someday." Emma said, still staring up at the sky. Normally not one to let things go, Regina furrowed her eyebrows together but nodded.

"Do you see that?" Emma reached her forefinger up to the stars and traced a pattern in the sky.

"See what?" Regina tried to follow Emma's finger as it traced the pattern again.

"Right there. It kind of looks like a person."

"Oh…yes I see it." Regina's finger now traced the pattern Emma had been going over. They both stared upwards, not realizing they were sitting so close their sides were brushing.

"That's Andromeda. She was a Princess. Renowned for being one of the most beautiful women in the land."

"Are you trying to compare her to yourself Emma?" Regina said with a smirk, amused by Emma's cockiness.

"No, I was comparing her to you." Emma said softly.

"Oh." Regina's mind was moving a mile a minute and her heart was lurching in her chest. She was both exhilarated and terrified at how easily Emma could set her emotions off.

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to be alone." Emma said kindly. Regina was quiet for what seemed like forever.

"It's better that way" Regina whispered, just barely loud enough for Emma to hear.

"I'm here for you."

"You can't help me." Regina said sullenly. She knew all too well what happened when she got her hopes up and let anyone in. But here Emma stood.

Emma, who had showed her that some wonder was still left in the world. Emma, who reminded her that life didn't have to be as dreary as it had been in the past. Emma, who was worming her way into Regina's heart more and more each day.

But she knew that it would end soon enough. Emma would leave her, and yet again, she would be alone.

* * *

**Please review! It lets me know if I'm taking the story in a good direction!**


	5. Taste of Freedom

Regina sat at the dining room table eating happily. She hummed slightly under her breath.

"Oh, dear, please tell me you don't eat like that all the time. You'll be plumper than the women who used to run the bakery in no time." Regina froze, her fork midway to her mouth. _No_. _This was not happening._

"Sit up straight, you're slouching." Regina straightened her back, cringing immediately after. She didn't have to listen to her. She slouched back down and narrowed her eyes.

"I gave you everything I could. Made you a Queen, and what? I don't even get a warm welcome?"

"What would you have me do? Open my arms to give you a great big hug, _mother?"_ Regina fumed. Cora had already ruined her life. She had forced her to marry Leopold, had crushed her lover's heart, and had inadvertently forced Regina to live with her most mortal enemy, Snow White.

"Oh please darling, you aren't still mad about that stable boy are you?" I suppose I get the attraction, he was such…" Cora searched for the exact word that would set Regina off, "a perfect charity case, and I know how much you like helping the more unfortunate. You must have felt so good about yourself being with him" Regina's fork clattered to her plate as she pushed back form the mahogany table. The legs of her chair scraping loudly on the floor.

"Now, now dear. Don't forget who always has your best interest in mind." Cora smiled brilliantly, her lips curling back to reveal a set of perfect, white teeth. Regina, who was now standing, turned and walked rapidly toward the exit of the dining hall. Cora simply waved her hand in response, magically suspending Regina in the air.

"Stop, mother. Stop it right now." Regina struggled to release the bind. She focused on the magic Rumplestilskin had taught her, but growled in frustration when she failed. She was still very much a novice.

"Oh how cute. Are you trying to out do me Regina? I can feel your magic trying to help you out. So very weak it is. I suppose I shouldn't surprised though, you always were weak." Cora flicked her hand again and Regina went flying into a mirror that stood on one end of the wall. Her body shattering the glass and hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

It was this exact sound that drew Emma's attention from the other side of the castle. She suddenly sensed dark magic filtering in the air around her. It seemed to linger and swirl in the hallways. She took off towards the dining hall, sprinting as fast as she could.

"Where is your dear, dear husband Regina? I wanted to discuss matters with him." Cora said condescendingly, always condescendingly. Regina pushed off the floor weakly, broken fragments of glass falling off her as she stumbled to get up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emma growled, appearing in the doorframe. Cora spun around to face Emma.

"And who do we have here?" Cora said as she walked towards Emma, circling her predatorily. Emma remained motionless, her fists clenched next to her side.

"My name is Emma."

"The Lost Princess" Cora said, recalling the name.

"Yes." Emma said confidently. Cora continued to circle Emma, she didn't sense any dark magic coming from her, so she quickly wrote her off as not a threat. She couldn't have been more wrong. Cora turned back to Regina, "and now to deal with you. "

She flicked her hand up, wrapping Regina in magical restraints that tightened around Regina's waist, feet, and neck. With increasing pressure of Cora's fingers, the restraints tightened. Regina gasped and sputtered, trying to breathe.

While no one except a close observer would have noticed anything, Emma's head minutely jerked upwards, her eyes trained on Regina. With that one jerk, the restraints were released from Regina and she fell to the ground. Emma ran over to Regina's side, helping her stand on her feet. Regina's dress was cut and shallow scrapes and glass fragments littered her back. With one hand around Regina's waist, Emma supported her body.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Cora said.

"Leave her alone. Go home." Emma barked.

"Don't you know? My home is where my daughter is, how pathetic she may be." Cora snarled as she formed a fireball in her hand and launched it at the two women. Emma blocked the attack, the fireball disintegrating into a blue puff. Cora responded by throwing another one, but Emma was already muttering some unintelligible protection spell around Regina. The fireball bounced off a now existent dome that surrounded the brunette woman.

"Oh, wait. This is precious, the Lost Princess protecting my daughter. True love is it?." Emma frowned, Cora must have correctly guessed true love was intermixed with her magic based on its blue shimmering quality. It was an obvious giveaway. Regardless of the disappointment Emma felt that Cora now knew she was the product of true love, she wound her arm up and pushed it firmly towards Cora.

Little did Emma know Cora was not claiming true love based on the appearance of Emma's magic, but instead by the look in her daughter's eyes. Regina was holding onto Emma and looking up at her with wide eyes as Emma flung her hands around throwing ice balls, fireballs, bolts of magic. You name it, Emma conjured it. With one last flick Emma created a magical vortex that whipped and spun through the room. It swept Cora up, engulfing her in a blue haze. When the vortex dissipated into thin air, so did Cora.

"Wh-what did you do? Where did she go?" Regina asked weakly.

"She's in another realm. It will probably take her awhile to find her way back." Emma said as Regina slumped even more on her. Cora had drained a substantial amount of energy out of Regina, one of her offensive tactics. It allowed her to beat her enemy without wasting too much of her own magic and energy.

"Here, let's get you in a bed to rest" Emma said as she and Regina transported in a swirl of blue smoke from the dining hall to Regina's room.

"How did you…How do you know…" Regina had so many conflicting questions but the pull of sleep was far stronger than anything else. She wanted to thank Emma, but when she opened her mouth everything went black.

* * *

Hours later, Regina opened her eyes. _Where was she?_ She looked up and realized that it was her own ceiling she was looking at. She was in her room. She felt a weight spread across her shins. Lifting up her head she looked down and saw Emma sprawled out across her legs. It looked as though Emma had been sitting up next to Regina while she was sleeping and had dozed off, the weight of her head tipping her over to lay down. Regina smiled. This woman had saved her life. She leaned on her elbows and tapped on Emma's shoulder to wake her up.

"Wh-what?" Emma shot up.

"Nothing, it's just me. I just wanted to…Oh Emma!" Regina cried out. Emma had a long bloody gash on the side of her face. It had dried up considerably and scabbed a brownish-red color on her cheek. Emma reached up and touched it, grimacing when she made contact.

"Let me help," Regina said as she tried to squirm out from underneath Emma's weight to get bandages.

"No, it's okay." Emma stopped Regina, resting her hand on her leg. Regina looked questioningly at Emma but Emma just cocked her head sideways and lifted up her hand. The blue shimmer of her magic hovered over her face and the wound healed itself. Regina stared, transfixed.

"How did you do that?"

"Magic," Emma winked.

"Yes, I know that. How did you learn?" Regina asked, she was slightly frustrated that her magic abilities were so basic in comparison to Emma's.

"I am the product of true love…apparently. So I was born with it." Emma just shrugged. She had given up a long time ago trying to understand the buzzing that lie beneath her fingertips, or the blue smoke that used to surround her whenever she got emotional.

"You're telling me that Michael and Elizabeth are each others true love?" Regina raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"I guess…so. Gross isn't it?" Emma smiled, her and Regina chuckled in agreement. After a long while Emma looked up from the blanket that she was fiddling with between her fingers, Regina was staring at her quizzically.

"What?" Emma put her hands to her face, _was there something on it?_ Regina let out a light laugh at Emma's self-consciousness.

"Will you show me what magic you can do?" Regina's face was soft, not demanding or hard as it usually was.

"What do you want to see?"

"Anything."

"Hm…okay. Put out your hands." Regina reached out her hands and put them next to each other, palms up. Emma hovered her own hands slightly above Regina's, palms down.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what!" Regina curled her hands closed, fearful of what was going to come next. Emma just laughed.

"Don't worry." She lowered her hands to Regina's palms and willed her magic to them. She allowed it to flow from her and into Regina. Regina felt vibration and tingling from her palms travel up and into her chest cavity. She felt warmth, happiness, a lightness that her leaden heart was not used to. It seemed to crawl up her neck like a blush and dissipate in her head.

"Wow," Regina breathed. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. If that was all inside of Emma, no wonder she was always in a good mood.

"Hm… What else can I show you?" Emma tipped her head up, wondering. She or Regina hadn't noticed that their hands were still connected, or the fact that they weren't showing any initiative to move them. "Oh, I got it. What's your favorite flower?"

"Guess." Regina flirted, her formerly cold personality gone. _It must be the effects of Emma's magic,_ she thought. Emma paused for a second to think and flicked her hand. Within seconds a beautiful white lily appeared between her fingers. She offered it to Regina whose face was turning pink with pleasure. She took the lily and brought it to her nose. It smelled like a rainy afternoon.

"How'd I do?" Emma smirked, she could tell Regina liked the flower.

"Decent. Not too bad." Regina said. Emma fake pouted and Regina nudged her. They were acting like two schoolgirls with crushes.

"Watch this." Emma flicked her hand again, an apple appearing in it. She then tossed the apple up and followed it with her eyes as it looped and bobbed in the air, floating at Emma's will.

"Oh _how_ impressive" Regina said teasingly.

"Not good enough for you, your Majesty?" Emma jumped up from the bed, hooked her arm around Regina's waist and pulled her into her. Once their bodies were flush, the women disappeared in a blue cloud. Within seconds the reappeared at the pond that they had their picnic at. Emma stood and smirked at Regina's gaping face. Regina had never knowingly magically teleported before. She was half unconscious when Emma had transported them to her room earlier that day.

"You can't just do that!"

"Why not? I was just showing you." Emma gave her best puppy dog eyes and Regina, like all the other mortals, fell for it willingly.

"Just…warn me! Not everyone is used to teleporting around like that."

"Okay well now you're used to it. Can I show you somewhere else? I was going to show you before, but you were ignoring me then." Regina looked down for a second, guiltily. When she looked back up, she nodded to Emma, giving her the permission she needed to whisk her off to another place.

As before, Emma hooked an arm around Regina's waist and pulled her tightly to her own body. A blue, smoky moment later they appeared at the bottom of a cliff, a waterfall roaring to the right of them. The water flew by the two women in gallons while free falling through the air to a small waterhole. Rocks lined the waterfall and a thin white foam coated the still water at the bottom.

"Where are we? This place is amazing." Regina wasn't even sure if they were in the same land anymore.

"We're actually only an hour walk from the castle, really deep in the woods though. I named it Starlight Falls."

"Why?" Regina realized that her and Emma were still impossibly close from the trip over here and took a small step back.

"Because…" Emma flicked her hand. The water that had been flowing down instantly speckled with little orbs of light. It really did look as though the stars in the sky had liquidated and immersed themselves in the water. The scene was enhanced by the setting sun, making the brightness of the orbs stand out against the dusk sky. Regina smiled, her eyes fixed on the falling water.

"What's with you and stars?" Regina asked quietly.

"I don't know. My whole life I've been staring at them up in the sky. They just seem so far away, in a place that's perfect. With no problems, or worries, or…" she looked into Regina's velvety brown eyes, "…fear" Pure dread flashed over Regina's face. Emma knew her. How could she not have realized before? All her defenses were a waste. Right here, right now, she knew. Emma knew _her_. She cleared her throat.

"…and plus they're pretty." Emma said, trying to lighten the mood after she saw a dark shadow cross Regina's face. She smiled at Regina reassuringly, trying to convey that she wasn't going to hurt her.

"Can you take me back?" Regina croaked. Emma's face fell.

"Sure." The two transported back to Regina's room and this time it was Emma who took a small step back.

"Um…So I'll go. I'll see you later." Emma turned to leave, but Regina's hand which now circled her wrist stopped her.

"Wait." When Emma turned back to look into Regina's eyes. For once, she truthfully couldn't read them. Regina pulled Emma toward her by her wrist until they were chest to chest for the third time today. Emma lifted a hand to Regina's cheek.

"Emma. I can't. I can't feel anything." Tears prickled and filled Regina's eyes, threatening to spill over.

"You can. You underestimate yourself." Emma smiled as she rubbed a fallen tear from Regina's cheek with her thumb. "Take a chance Regina. I'm not going to hurt you."

Regina's face looked doubtful, but god, her heart swelled with hope.

"Can I…" Emma asked as she ran her hand down from Regina's cheek to the back of her neck, her fingers tangled in Regina's hair. She leaned forward.

"Can you…" Regina was slowly leaning into Emma as well, both too afraid to scare the other off. Their heads both tipped sideway. Their noses brushed. Their breaths mingled at the close proximity.

"Kiss-" Emma began to say when Regina closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was passionate. It was longing. It was freedom. Shockwaves traveled down each of the women's bodies, curling at their toes. Regina placed her hands on the small of Emma's back, who also pulled Regina tighter against herself. Emma leaned to deepen the kiss and Regina let her, releasing a small moan as their tongues slid against one another. After a couple minutes, Emma pulled back slightly, resting her forehead on Regina's.

"I don't want to go too fast." She said breathlessly.

"I've been waiting almost ten years to feel like this again…I don't think that's too fast, do you?" Regina returned, just as breathlessly. The tone of her voice was meant to seduce, but the want she felt seemed to overcome it and it just came out lustful.

"If you say so," Emma grinned as grasped onto Regina's hips and pulled them closer together. Regina chuckled and leaned back in for another taste of freedom.

* * *

**A/N: So, technically the M rating didn't happen this chapter, but it will be soon. Hope everyone liked it :) A lot of plot progression will occur next chapter, get ready!**


	6. Savior for Awhile Now

**A/N: Surprise! Double update day. I've got pretty long week of exams coming up and I'm not sure when I'll be able to have a chance to write or update in the next few days so I decided to just get all I've got out there to see what you guys think. Please, please review! **

* * *

Emma squinted, a beam of sun filtered through the window and straight into her eyeball. She flopped her hand onto her face and blinked her eyes several times. She and Regina had passionately kissed for what seemed like hours, but when it came to doing more, Emma politely refused. She knew it would be too much for Regina, regardless of how right in felt in the heat of the moment.

Instead, the two had fallen asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms, an action just as intimate as making love. Emma turned on her side to look at her bedmate; all she saw were wrinkled sheets. She felt around the empty spot as if Regina was somehow hiding in the mattress. A piece of paper was curled up on Regina's pillow covered in elegant black script.

_I should thank you for the comfort that you provided me last night. It was an unusual situation, and I appreciate you completing your duties as princess. This meeting will not change where we stand: as allies in this kingdom and as acquaintances in the castle. If you wish to find comfort with someone else tonight, I shall arrange for a maid to come to your room. _

The note was signed: _Queen Regina_. Evil Queen was more like it Emma scowled. How could she have been so stupid? She knew that it was too much. She shouldn't have even kissed her. And now she was treating her like some common whore. They hadn't even slept together! They had merely, and literally, shared a bed. A guttural growl came from the back of Emma's throat in frustration. She threw the covers off of her and stomped out of the room.

Her eyebrows remained permanently creased with frustration throughout her bath. The corners of her mouth remained tilted down while she changed for the day. Her arms stuck stiffly next to her sides while she ate breakfast, alone. Needing to release some of the stress that was coiling and winding within her, Emma headed outside to go riding. With the wind in her hair and the breeze whipping against her face, she slowly began to calm down. She would have to begin the process again, slowly earning Regina's trust. She sighed as her horse neared the stables again, slowing significantly.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice a figure that stood nonchalantly in front of the wooden doors. The figure was wearing a menacing black dress, hands on their hips. Emma threw her leg over the horse and jumped down onto the plush grass. She finally noticed Regina stationed at the entrance to the stables.

Emma took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and walked towards her with the horse's reins in her hand. It seemed sort of fitting that this conversation was being held with Regina at the stables. It is where it all began after all.

"Hello Regina" Emma began formally, not quite sure how this conversation was going to go. She wasn't going to let Regina tell her that last night meant nothing, that's for sure.

"Emma." Regina nodded, her face stone hard.

"About your note…" Emma began.

"I don't see why we have to discuss anything. I think I made it quite clear what happened last night. If you are simple enough to think that it meant something then I will have to find someone else to satisfy my needs." She said with an evil grin.

"Regina. You know that meant something. Don't write me off as a prostitute who came in to please you. That was for me, just as much as it was for you."

"Oh, I'm not saying you didn't enjoy yourself…" Regina drawled seductively. Emma huffed. She couldn't do this. Her 'woo her off her feet and get her to fall in love with you' plan wasn't working. She needed the truth, but her tongue refused to move. The truth would hurt both of them, just thinking about it made Emma's heart ache. Maybe should could just start slowly?

"Cat got your tongue?" Regina started to advance slowly toward Emma, her hips swaying with each step. This was not Regina, Emma thought, this was something else. Something evil. And it needed to stop immediately.

"Stop trying to push people out. I know this is an act. I know you aren't really like this. I'm here for you. I'm. Here. For. You. So stop, just stop whatever defensive mechanism you've put into motion. It's not going to fool me."

"Oh is that so, dear?" Right after Regina said this, her stomach lurched uncomfortably. She sounded like her mother. While Regina appeared to be seductive, cold, and heartless to an onlooker, inside, she was drowning. Drowning in her pain, in her fear, in her affection for Emma. She had woken up this morning to find herself clinging to Emma as if she were a lifeline. She hadn't slept in the same bed as someone in years, and the comfort and warmth Emma had provided through the night had allowed Regina to feel safer than she ever had in her life.

It only took one minute after waking up for panic to smash into Regina in wave after wave. She couldn't get hurt again. She couldn't lose Emma, also. She didn't have any love left in her. It had all been ripped out of her when Daniel was lost. She could admit to herself that Daniel may not have been the love of her life, they were both so young that she didn't even know if it would have lasted, but Daniel had signified her capability of love.

He had been a symbol for all the compassion, hope, dreams, and yes, love that she had within her. When he died, most of her had died with him. Replaced with loneliness, desperation, anger, and sadness, crippling sadness. When she met Emma though, feelings she thought had died, she realized, had only been dormant. And this, this was too much for her. She couldn't do it all again because she knew that if she lost someone a second time around, she wouldn't be able to survive.

"Yes, that's is so." Emma screamed

"And what could you possibly know about my life? About me? So much so that you think could be there for me?" Regina spat. It was all she could do in order to prevent from breaking down in front of Emma. She buried herself under the anger, but she felt tears prickling the back of her eyes.

"I know everything about you Regina." Emma was no longer yelling. Her voice was deflated, defeated from trying to constantly keep everything a secret. "I know about Daniel. I know you sometimes talk to your apple trees. I know you like the color orange, but think it looks horrible on-"

"What?" Regina snapped, completely caught off guard. She felt like the world was spinning, her head was impossibly light. When did her head get so light? It felt like it could detach from her body and float away.

"I know about Daniel." Emma repeated, her voice slightly trembling.

"You only know what I told you the other da-" Regina reasoned. Her created exterior was slipping and she grasping at the seams to keep it together.

"No. Regina. I know all about Daniel. I was there when he died."

"Wha-What. You couldn't. There's no way."

"I told you about my family in the woods. Well, my adoptive brother used to come home every day at his work and tell me about a woman. He told me how kind this woman was, 'the kindest he had ever met' he said. How beautiful she was, 'just as beautiful as a sunset' he said. How smart she was, 'she could outsmart even you in a game of chess, Em' he said.

Every day he would come home and I would wait for him to tell me about this women. I longed to know her. I longed to meet her, the woman who had stolen my brother's heart.

He was at work one day as usual. It started to get late and he didn't come home. My father and I were worried, so I offered to go check up on him where he worked. My father would have come but he was in the middle of plowing the fields before the rain the next morning. So he let me go alone. I rode all the way to the estate where he worked...Emma paused and looked at Regina, whose face was blank, " as a stable boy" she continued.

A strained whisper came from Regina, "no."

Emma's hands were sweaty, her pulse was racing, her stomach flipping. "I had just gone around the side of the stables, it was very late now and I thought maybe he would be there. I tied my horse on the side of the stable. There, I saw a slit in the wall where two planks had been chipped. I put my eye up to the slit and looked in."

Emma looked up to the sky as her voice hitched with grief, willing the tears that were pooling in her eyes to go back to where they came from "and he was there. He was there hugging a woman. The beautiful woman he had talked about."

Emma looked at Regina who looked as though someone had punched her in the stomach. "and then. It all happened so fast. Another older woman was there and she was yelling, and the beautiful woman was yelling, and before I knew what had happened the older woman had taken his heart right out of him and crushed it in her hand."

Emma clenched her fist together remembering how badly she had wanted burst in that stable and kill her brother's murderer. Tears were streaming down both women's faces. Once the droplets of water had reached their jawlines they fell off and hit the ground, determined to keep flowing.

"I watched the beautiful woman kiss him, trying with all her might to wake him up. And she cried the whole time she was trying. She stayed there for hours, crying. I had never seen someone so sad, so broken. I slid down to the ground and sat against the stables, crying with her" A sob ripped out of Regina at the memory.

"Eventually, the women stood up and walked back to the estate. I entered the stables, my brother, Daniel, lying there on the floor. I touched his cheek; I remember it being ice cold. I felt so much grief, so much anger. I didn't know I had magic before, but during that moment it just swirled inside of me. Before I knew what had happened I was back in our house, Daniel's body next to me." Emma recalled her father bursting into the house at the intrusion, his face falling and his body crumpling when he saw Daniel dead on the floor.

"I never knew where his body went. I figured my mother had gotten rid of him." Regina whispered. She staggered over to the stable wall and leaned against the side, her weight resting fully against it. Her limp body crumpled for a second before straightening, realization dawning on her.

"So you just took him and left? You knew. You saw, and you just took him and left? And what? You decided to come here years later and see if I could fall in love with you too? Just for fun? Or did you want to see me broken again? As revenge for killing your brother." Regina was screaming now, more loudly and angry than she could ever recall herself. All the years of bottling it up, all of the fury, she now unleashed on Emma.

"Are you fucking kidding me Regina?" Emma yelled. She wiped her tear stained face with the back of her hand. "I came back for you. Each and every fucking day. I knew that his death had killed you just as much as me. I didn't want you to be alone." Emma shouted. All of her secrets were rolling off of her now and she couldn't stop them.

"At first I just stayed in the woods as you walked around the fields. I didn't know how I could help you. I thought about talking to you, but you were in so much pain, and your mother was so protective I wouldn't have been able to. So I got a job as your laundry girl the next week." Emma struggled to get out, the emotion still too much for her.

"I would have remembered you. Don't try to fool me," Regina growled.

"I used a transformation spell. Once the magic started flowing through me during Daniel's death, it became natural," Emma said simply. "I didn't want you to know who I was. I was scared to face you." Regina's eyebrows knitted together confused as to why Emma was scared to face _her. _

"I tried to make you happier. I put flowers on your bed. I gave you the sunniest days and the starriest nights. I even conjured up that little spotted puppy that used to wander into your garden. I made that apple tree grow." Regina turned quickly towards Emma, looking at her fiercely in the eye.

"You planted that apple tree?"

"Yes."

"The one where Daniel and I used to meet? How could you know?" Regina said with disbelief.

"He told me about a place you two would have picnics, up on a hill, with an oak tree that would shade you from the sun."

"That one apple tree is the reason I love them so mu-"

"I know," Emma said softly. "Apple trees remind me of him too," she whispered."For years I protected you. I made sure you didn't fall in the stream, or scrape your knee, I would conjure roadblocks so your mother would get stuck traveling and stay away from you."

Regina remembered the stream incident. She had been walking beside it, miserable with all that she had lost. Her foot slipped on a rock. As she began to tumble into the ravine she couldn't even bring herself to care that much. She hurt already, what would a few rocks do. Without notice she landed on a wide rock that was wedged in the side of the ravine. It had appeared out of nowhere. She was safe on that rock. She sat there for a few minutes before climbing back up to the top and walking home.

"I remember." Regina said, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

"But eventually I had to leave. Your mother found out that you weren't attending your etiquette classes one week." Regina's eyes widened, she thought of the horrible punishment her mother would have enacted if she had found out she had skipped any of her duties. "She ran to your room to punish you, muttering all the thing she was going to do. I couldn't let her. I hid in a side hallway and blocked her magic before she entered your room. I made her stop." Regina's raised her eyebrows. "She found me hiding though. She could tell the magic had come from me." Emma cringed at the memory. "Anyway, after that I had to leave."

"What did she do to you?" Regina asked.

"Nothing."

"Tell me" Regina demanded. Emma waited, and waited, but Regina continued to stare her down.

"She whipped me until I had no skin that wasn't raw. I couldn't walk out of the estate so she launched me from the balcony. I had to transport myself home. I couldn't move." Regina breathed in deeply, trying to contain the rage inside of her. She couldn't believe all Emma had done for her, and she hadn't even known. She couldn't believe all Emma had…done…this was her fault. She had ruined Emma's life. She didn't deserve her.

"You should go." Regina's voice cracked as she said it, as if this request was betraying all parts of her.

"If that's what you want." Emma said sadly. She placed both hands on the horse that was still tied up and got ready to mount it.

"Wait. Emma, I just… need time." Regina forced a weak smile on her face. She was emotionally drained. Emma nodded stiffly and mounted the horse.

"No please, Emma. I promise. It's a lot to take in." Regina went over to Emma's horse and placed her hand reassuringly on Emma's leg. This time, Emma's face lightened a bit.

"You know he was wrong." Emma said.

"About what?"

"You're more beautiful than a sunset. I fell in love with you Regina. I protected you, because I fell in love with you," Emma said confidently and jerked her heels into the horse's side, effectively making them trot away.

* * *

**A/N: All I have to say is my poor Regina, and I wrote this shit. Damn, I must be some sort of masochist or something.**


	7. A Sacrifice for a Beautiful Woman

**A/N: Warning: there are some darker images in this chapter. Rating is M. It will get brighter though! Enjoy! **

* * *

"Come on boy, faster, faster." Emma made a clicking noise with her mouth as she raced through the forest. She was really in no rush, but she felt like flying and if this was the closest she could get, she would take it. She stopped at the flowing stream and let her horse tip its head down into the cool water to drink. She walked along the stream and watched her reflection ripple as the water broke into the rocks that pebbled the ground.

She had no idea where she was going.

_Regina said she needed time, how much time? What was she going to do until then?_ She leaned down and dipped her finger into the water. It was cold and refreshing. She sighed and stood back up. When her horse was done drinking she remounted him.

She had decided on her destination. Home. She was going to go home. Her childhood house was only an hour ride away from the castle. She made it in 35 minutes. The only way to calm her racing thoughts and beating heart was to ride faster than they could. So she flew.

When she reached a clearing in the trees, her horse slowed. Up ahead stood a log cabin. The solid wood had been scratched and scuffed over the years. The once gleaming brown now looked more dull and grey. The paint on the door was chipped off considerably. Emma tied up her horse and approached the door. She knocked twice. A minute later an older man opened the door slowly. He was tanned and lean, but full of muscle. A body that had known hard work, Emma thought.

"Em? Is that you?" The man said hopefully.

"Hey Pa." Emma said as the man pulled her in for a hug. When they broke, the man ushered her into the door, pulling out a wooden chair for her at a table in the middle of the small house.

"And how's my princess?" He asked.

"Pa, it's not funny anymore now that I'm actually a princess." Emma chuckled. She shook her head as she remembered how he always used to say 'and how is my princess today?' to her when she was little. She would dress up in the finest cloth and wrap it around her, pretending to be very disinterested and royal. She turned up her nose and say 'as well as a princess can be I suppose' and her and Daniel would burst out into a fit of giggles.

"Yes, yes. I know." He said good naturedly. He busied himself by making Emma a pot of tea while they caught up. He talked about the farm, the villagers, the kids in the closest house in the woods that Emma and Daniel used to play with, what they were up to. Emma would visit every month, so there was not an overwhelming amount of new information to share. After all the trivial topics had been exhausted, Emma's father put Emma's hand in his own.

"What's wrong Em? You've seemed to have aged with a weight on your shoulders."

Emma sighed, "I found her, Pa." He knew exactly who Emma was talking about. He hadn't been blind, he knew that Emma had continued to protect the woman for years after Daniel's death, making excuses for taking mundane jobs at an estate.

"And…" He trailed off questioningly.

"And she knows everything. In fact, I have to go back soon to talk to her." Emma's father nodded. He was a calm man. A thoughtful man.

"If she loves you. Be patient."

"I am patient. I've been patient this whole time, Pa." Emma insisted.

"Now will be the hardest part though, when it's so close in reach."

"Okay." Emma said quietly.

"and Em?"

"If she loves you, and you love her back. I'd like to meet her." He said almost shyly as he turned his back to Emma to put away her teacup.

"You will, Pa" Emma pushed back from the table and stood up to give her father a hug.

"Now go, don't want to waste anymore time than you have to." He gave Emma a smile and tilted his head toward the door.

* * *

Emma raced back to the castle even faster than she had left it, this time with a new sense of hope. When she exited the forest and rejoined the main road she was alarmed at the loud thudding she heard in the distance.

She stopped at the peak of a hill on the road and turned her horse around. Since the journey was mostly an uphill one, she could see the winding turns of the road for a few miles back. In the distance, right below the horizon she saw a caravan of carriages. They were covered in cloth and flags. She could only make out one flag that flew tall above the first carriage. It had King Leopold's family crest on it.

Emma's heart lurched, her jaw dropped open. How could she have forgotten about Leopold? He had been gone for so many weeks that Emma had eliminated him from the challenges she had to face. But now he was coming back. She turned forward and nudged her feet inward, spurring her horse to sprint all the way to the castle.

When she finally made it, both she and her horse were exhausted. With the speed she had returned with, and the distance ahead of the carriages she figured she had a good hour before they arrived. She tied her horse up in the stables and raced into the castle to find Regina.

Unsurprisingly, she found her at the piano in the abandoned room. The normally sunshine filled room was far darker. Shadows cast on the walls as a result of a large rain cloud that had covered the sun in the sky. Regina tilted her head up and stilled her hands when Emma loudly entered.

"Leopold's back" She rushed out, her breath still erratic from all the exertion.

"Are you sure?" Regina's face scrunched up in distress. During Emma's absence, she had finally come to the conclusion that Emma was her savior. That she was never, in her life, ever going to find someone who could make her feel the way she did, and love her back the way she loved. She had waited anxiously for Emma's return, elated to tell her the good news, and instead she was onslaught with grief.

"Yes, I saw him just up the road to the castle while I was returning."

"Where did you go?" Regina asked, concerned.

"To my childhood house. I saw my Pa."

"Oh" Regina said. Emma seemed so serious, so full of anxiety that Regina began to worry her father had talked some sense into her. Maybe she didn't want to be with Regina after all.

"Regina, before Leopold comes there's one more thing I have to tell you. One more secret you don't know." Emma wrung her hands, fidgeting in her boots.

"Yes?" Dread filled Regina, what else could she have to tell her? Was she lying when she said she loved Regina?

"Regina, I-" Emma was cut off by the horns that signaled Leopold's return. They must have been going extremely fast for her to be this off with her guess for them to return an hour after her.

"He's here." Regina whispered. As if on cue, a maid stuck her head into the piano room.

"King Leopold is back. He would like you to greet him…in his bedroom" The maid squeaked out, clearly afraid of the reaction she would get from this request. Regina paled considerably. Her palms began sweating and her muscles screamed not to move.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't. Beckoning to Leopold's calls in bed had been a nightmare before, but that was when she was nothing more than an empty vessel. She was full now, full of awe, full of beauty, full of appreciation. All of this had been personally injected into her by Emma, and now Leopold wanted to replace it with something else. Her fingernails dug into her palms, angry red indents growing there. Her eyes prickled with something that should have been tears, but felt like acid. Softly, a hand was placed on her back. She flinched, but instantly relaxed when she realized it was only Emma.

"Could you please tell the King that I am feeling extremely ill and during his absence Regina has done a wonderful job aiding me back to health. I simply could not bear to have her leave my side for I fear what it would do to his war planning if me and my family were to return home to visit our healer." Regina looked at Emma incredulously as she spoke. "And make sure you tell him that that message is from me." Emma finished. The maid nodded quickly and disappeared down the hall.

Regina turned around, now facing Emma, "He's not going to take that very well you know."

"He may not like it, but he'll oblige." Emma said as she worried her lower lip with her teeth, deep in thought.

"I don't understand"

"It's what I needed to tell you, but now ism't a good time. Do you mind if we wait a little?"

"Will you tell me eventually?" Regina asked

"I promise." Emma said firmly.

"Then I can deal with waiting"

"Good, because there's something I need to do first" Emma said as she ran her fingertips down Regina's cheek. She cupped her hand underneath her chin and tilted Regina's face up. Regina's mind was whirling. She wanted this. She needed Emma's lips on hers. Yes, they had kissed last night, but this time she wouldn't hold onto her past. She wanted to be completely and irreversibly immersed in Emma.

Emma crashed her lips into Regina's. Their Hands roamed, their bodies touched, shivers were sent down both of their spines and goose bumps prickled their skin. When they breathlessly parted minutes later, Regina had a faint smile on her face. She rested her head in the nook of Emma's neck and sighed contently.

* * *

It was only a matter of time before the two found themselves slamming into Regina's bedroom wall. Emma's body pushed Regina's back into the walls as their lips remained attached. Small moans and whimpers escaped from their throats as one would drive the other into an oblivion of desire. When Regina pushed off the wall and onto Emma, the two moved in tandom to the bed. The back of Emma's knees hit the mattress and they both went tumbling down.

Regina began to leave a trail of scorching kisses, punctuated with dragging teeth, down the side of Emma's neck, paying special attention to Emma's pulse point. Emma's hands wandered down Regina's sides until they slipped under the hem of her dress. Then, she slid her hands upward, pulling the dress with it. She dragged her fingernails through Regina's olive skin and ended up cupping her backside. Emma slowly lingered at the top of Regina's underwear, not wanting to do anything Regina wasn't ready to. Regina tensed.

"I understand" Regina said quietly after she pulled her mouth away from Emma's neck.

"Understand what?" Emma asked, considerably confused.

"You don't want me. I know, I'm dirty. Leopold's been using me for years now. No one would ever want his sloppy seconds." Regina's lip quivered as she said it. Her eyes looked down at her feet, obviously ashamed.

"What? No… that's not…" Emma began, her eyes wide with concern.

"You deserve better Emma. I can't give you that." Regina pushed up from the bed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Emma's heart dropped at the thought of Regina thinking she was any bit undesirable.

"I need to talk to you" Emma said as she latched onto Regina, preventing her from leaving the bed.

"Aren't we doing that now?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, but I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"To me, you aren't used, or dirty. I promise. I need to tell you... the secret I mentioned earlier," Emma said as her eyes flicked down to Regina's lips. It was so tempting to just let it happen, so save this for another time. But it had to be known, before any trust was built between the two of them.

"What is it?" Worry flashed in Regina's eyes as she shifted her body from on top of Emma's to nestling snug besides her. Her arm remained tensely draped over Emma's midsection, conflicted between the comfort she felt for the other woman, and the still nagging concern that Emma didn't want her.

"There's a reason that Leopold will do what I want him to" Emma said. She looked off in the distance, avoiding eye contact with Regina.

Regina waited for Emma to continue.

"When I used to work as a gardener for the castle, you know so I could keep an eye on you, protect you," Emma began. "I would sometimes go to this tavern that was in the village. Most everyone that worked in the grounds did. Just to relax and wind down." Emma continued. Regina looked at Emma expectantly assuming she learned information to blackmail Leopold, or cast a curse on him, something that would give her the edge over him.

"One night, it was very late and he walked in."

"Leopold?" Regina asked.

"Yeah."

"He never went into the village."

"Well, he did this time. And he was stressed out about something. Anyway, he began to drink. A lot. I was there with my friends for awhile, but then it was just me and him in the bar." He was getting so drunk that his head was resting on the table. He didn't really talk to anyone while he was there, and no one wanted to question why a King was in a seedy tavern, so they left him to his own." Emma nervously began to run her thumb in meaningless patterns on Regina's hand.

"He obviously wanted to talk to someone though, because once all my friends had left, he came over to the table where I sat. He started telling me about his plans for the kingdom, his enemies." Regina's eyes widened. Leopold was always so secretive about his own plans.

"He told me much more than he should have. Just discussing all of this got him worked up, he started to throw his glass and pound on the table, screaming throughout it. Then he mentioned you." Regina's eyes grew large.

"He told me how you would never replace his first wife, how you were nothing more than a common whore, how he needed to show you who was in charge." Regina's hand gathered Emma's shirt into her forming fist. "While he was talking about this, I kept planning ways I could kill him. I thought, maybe I could hit him with the chair first, knock him out, ya know? He came to the conclusion he needed to go home and show you the reason you were his." Regina racked her brain to remember a night that could have been the one Emma was talking about, she trembled when she realized there wasn't one. She didnt remember a time we he had come home and showed her who was in charge, and that scared her more.

"He stumbled up from the table and ran outside to his waiting horse. I ran out behind him. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I couldn't let him go home to you." Emma's lower lip trembled. "He was going to hurt you." Regina's eyes filled with tears, wanting to stop Emma from continuing.

"So I pushed him into a pile of hay. I tried to grab his sword from the sheath on his horse, but he got to me first. He pulled me down into the hay with him and rolled on top of me. His face was so close to mine that I could smell the rancid whiskey on his breath. His eyes rolled around in his head. He was so drunk, it was like he couldn't quite focus on me. I struggled to get out from underneath him and got my hand loose. I pulled the small knife I always hid in my boot, but he elbowed me in the stomach so hard that I dropped it. He picked it up in his own hand and held it to my neck. He kept it to my neck while he undid his pants with one hand." Emma was crying now and Regina's face was full of so much fear that her skin had paled to a ghostly white. She looked as though she might get sick.

"He entered me so hard the first time I thought my insides had ripped out. With each of the five total thrusts, I was on fire. I felt like ice shards stabbed my skin. I felt like hot coals had been placed in my throat. I felt like a hundred knives pierced between my legs. After the fifth time his horse got spooked at something. It reared up and distracted him for a second. In that second, I punched his throat and pushed off the ground. Just as I was running away, Leopold reached his hand out to grab my leg. He was so drunk he didn't realize that the hand he tried to grab me with was still holding my knife. He plunged the knife into my calf, leaving a six inch gash. I limped away, crawled at times, and hid behind a house. He couldn't find me, so he ended up getting on his horse and riding back to the castle."

Regina interrupted Emma with a choking sob, she dug her face into Emma's neck, her shoulders shaking with each tremor that passed through her body. Emma wanted to stop, so badly she wanted to stop. But she had started now, she reminded herself, once she was done they would be out, all her secrets would be out.

"I didn't see him for years, in fact the next time I saw him I had already become known as the Lost Princess. I was with my parents in our castle when he came to visit. I hadn't known he was coming so I remember I was just dressed in my riding outfit. The minute I saw him, I remembered. He seemed to recognize me, but couldn't place from where. It took two days, but the minute we were finally alone I pulled up the hem of my dress and flashed him my calf. He saw the scar that was engraved there and knew immediately who I was. I knew he remembered because his face turned white and he had to excuse himself to throw up. We never talked about it, but he knows that if he doesn't follow any of my demands, I could easily tell my father and his kingdom would crumble without his alliance."

"But why wouldn't you tell? You could destroy him. He deserves it, that disgusting little roach." Regina snarled. Emma looked at Regina.

"Because…" Emma began.

"...Because of me" Regina finished as she looked down at her hands.

"Because of you. I didn't know what would happen to you if I did that." Emma tucked a fallen strand of Regina's hair back behind her ear.

"You've been my savior all these years" Regina realized.

"I had to make sure that beautiful woman I found back at the stables all those years back was never as sad or broken again." Emma said. They both lie there for a little, processing everything Emma had said.

And then Regina was on top of Emma, loving her like Emma had loved her all those years before.

She loved all of Emma.

She loved that way her hair fell in a halo around her head. She loved the way Emma's lips pouted when Regina would tease her, pulling back before Emma could get in another kiss. She loved how protective Emma would place her hand behind Regina's head as she flipped them over on the mattress. She especially loved the scar that was clearly visible on Emma's calf, the one that represented Emma's sacrifice for her.

She ran her fingers up and down the scar, following her fingertip with kisses.


	8. Love and War

**A/N: So I figured after last chapter everyone could use a little fluff. And so that's what I wrote: fluff on fluff on fluff. Hope y'all like it. **

* * *

For the second time, Emma woke up in Regina's bed. This time, she didn't need to turn to see if Regina was there. She felt her sprawled out on top of her from the minute she was jerked into consciousness. Regina's head lay on Emma's chest, her leg hooked between Emma's. Her body rose and fell with each deep breath.

Emma picked up her head from the pillow to look at the brunette. Her face was relaxed, relaxed in a way that only one who had endured a night of making love could exhibit. Emma smiled as she picked up her hand to run her fingers through Regina's hair. With the sudden contact, Regina shifted on Emma's body, her eyes blinking slowly. She appeared confused for a little before Emma's figure came into focus. Her lips curled upward in a sweet smile as her eyes shut again.

"mmmm" Regina softly groaned as she began to wake up.

"Well good morning to you to," Emma said. Regina's smile only grew in response, her teeth coming into view.

"How long have you been awake?" Regina asked, her voice still raspy from sleep.

"Only a little while."

"Good."

"Long enough to know that you snore in your sleep " Emma smirked against the top of Regina's head. Regina jerked rapidly on Emma's chest and turned so she could make eye contact with the blonde woman.

"I do not." Regina said firmly, although her voice held a waver of uncertainty. Nonetheless she appeared confident in the statement.

"Yes, you do. I heard you" Emma said, trying to be as serious as she could.

"You must have heard something else because I most definitely do not." Regina pouted. Her eyebrows scrunched together. Emma couldn't hold it in anymore; her shoulder shook up and down as silent giggles racked her system.

"You were joking?" Regina exclaimed, her mouth comically hung open. Emma nodded, still chuckling to herself. Regina playfully slapped Emma's shoulder. "Not funny" she fake pouted.

"Pretty funny" Emma said lightly. How they could go from being racked with grief just a night before to joking around mystified her. This side of Regina, the lighter side, the side not weighed down with sadness, was one she knew very little about. Though she intend to find out more.

"Are you…?" Emma began to ask at the same time that Regina sat up in bed, her smooth bare back coming into Emma's view. She leaned back and forward, stretching her muscles for the day. Whatever Emma was going to say died in her throat. The beauty that this woman exuded never ceased to astonished her.

She watched as Regina rolled her head from side to side, spending time on each side to loosen her neck. Emma pushed herself up on her elbows and traced her fingertip down Regina's spine. She leaned in and placed soft kisses on her shoulder blades, taking care not to leave a spot untouched.

Regina's heart fluttered when she felt Emma's lips on her back. The kisses were so soft, so innocent. They didn't scream to be returned. They didn't beg for more. They gave for the pure reason of being given. A soft hum of appreciation escaped Regina's throat.

"What were you going to say?" Regina asked as she turned her head. This only caused Emma to retrack kisses up the side of Regina's neck. When she reached her jawline, Emma paused, trying to remember what it was that she had begun to say.

"I was wondering if you were hungry"

"Well a little I suppose. I'm finding it pretty hard to leave this bed with such a beautiful woman in it though." Regina shot a smirk at Emma, who returned it.

"What would you say if I told you that you didn't have to?"

Regina turned and placed a kiss on Emma's lips. "I would say that's the best of both worlds."

"Your wish is my command, milady" Emma said with a flick of her hand. In a couple of seconds dishes were scattered upon the bed. A bowl of fruit, a plate of eggs, stacks of toast, oatmeal, anything one could dream up for breakfast was now an arm's length away from Regina.

"I knew there were perks to being with you" Regina said lightly as she picked up a piece of fruit between her fingers and popped it in her mouth. Emma only shook her head contently as she grabbed a piece of toast. The two ate hungrily for a little while before Regina spoke up.

"Do you think you could teach me?"

"Teach you magic?" Emma asked, her mouth still half full of food.

"Yes, but the good kind. Rumplestilskin has been teaching me magic, but it's dark. It makes me feel so.. angry." Regina said. Emma swallowed.

"Regina, please don't go near that man. The risk is not worth anything that he is offering you. He'll manipulate you."

"I know, I know."

"Please" Emma pleaded with her eyes.

"I promise, darling," Regina said as she rested a hand on Emma's cheek. Both of their stomachs were filled with butterflies when they realized the pet name that had escape from Regina's lips.

"I mean, Emma." Regina corrected, her face colored a light shade of pink. She busied herself from the embarrassment and placed a few of the dishes on the ground so that they were not accidently knocked off.

"Well, I mean, I liked darling better." Emma said, the side of her mouth curling upwards in a lopsided smile. Regina's face softened,_ so this is what it feels like to be in love._

"So when do you want to start?"

"Right now."

"Okay" Emma nodded and pulled the sheet off of her still naked body. "Then it's about time we put on some clothes," Emma waved her hand over her body and she was instantly covered with her usual tight pants and loose shirt that always seemed to be cut low enough for Regina to get a delicious glimpse at her cleavage. Regina groaned, she liked naked Emma better than clothed Emma.

"Your turn," Emma said grabbing Regina's outstretched hand from the bed and helping her up. Emma looked Regina up and down slowly, admiring each and every curve that graced her breathtaking body. She flicked her hand and Regina appeared in tight tan pants and a leather vest with a V that just went short of her belly button. The bottom of the leather vest exposing most of her midriff as well. Her breasts stood proudly on display as the leather vest hugged her body like a second skin. Regina looked up from her outfit and raised her eyebrows challengingly. Emma chuckled.

"It was worth a shot!" she said as she threw her hands defensively up in the air. She flicked her hand again and the leather vest was replaced with a fitted long sleeve top with a much more appropriate V neck that transitioned into a row of buttons.

"Now was that so hard?" Regina said teasingly.

"Harder than you can imagine. Ready?" Emma said as she reached her hand out for Regina to grab.

"Ready." The two poofed away in a tornado of smoke.

* * *

When they reappeared they were back at starlight falls. Regina kept her fingers interlaced with Emma's.

"Okay, why don't you show me what you can do," Emma offered.

"Alright." Regina released Emma's hand and readied her hands. Her whole face scrunched in concentration. She raised her hands slowly and made a decent size rock rise with them. The rock levitated in the air, with a sharp, punctuated movement, her hand and the rock catapulted into the cliff, the rock breaking off into shards.

"Okay..." Emma said gauging Regina's experience level. "Let's raise the stakes"

"I can do that" Regina said, never one to back down from a challenge.

"I want you to try to teleport over there." Emma pointed to the top of the falls where a rock stood out of the water. Regina opened her mouth, but Emma spoke again before she could begin.

"and for the raising of the stakes part, I'm going to be over there as well."

"What's the catch?" Regina said as her eyes narrowed.

"Let's just say, you're going to want to get over there on that rock with me." Emma said mischievously as she disappeared and reappeared minutes later on the rock she had just spoke about.

"I don't understand why this is supposed to encourage me" Regina flirted, thinking Emma just figured her desire to stay near her was supposed to inspire her to teleport.

"Just watch" Emma shouted as she waved her hand toward the ledge where Regina was standing. All of the sudden, the ledge began to shake, the base of it that was connected to the rest of the ground shook violently. An angry crack began to form before Regina's eyes. She looked from the crack to the water, knowing that if the ledge broke off she was going to get drenched.

"You wouldn't…" Regina said as she looked back at Emma.

"It's just water. Looks pretty cold though, doesn't it?"

"I don't know how to…" Regina's head switched from between the growing crack and Emma standing on the rock above her.

"Just focus on where you want to be. Imagine the place you want to go. Feel it inside" Emma slowly said. Regina panicked, the pressure was too much for her to focus. The ledge shook violently for a second time, this time jerking downward at an angle. Regina began to slide off the ledge. She closed her eyes, trying to focus, but just as she calmed herself enough to feel the magic welling up inside of her, the ledge broke off.

She went tumbling into the icy water. When her head re-emerged, she screamed at the cold contact. She shot a death glare at Emma who was still up on the rock, chuckling to herself. Regina's hair was plastered to her face and her clothes floated in the water and she tread around. Within seconds purple smoke surrounded Regina. She reappeared on the rock next to Emma, an evil smirk on her face.

"Oh Emma, you're going to pay for that" She said as she pushed Emma off the rock and into the water. It all happen so fast that Emma was not able to transport herself back to the rock before she plunged into the water.

"Oh my god. This water is freezing!" She yelped. Regina stood laughing on the rock. When Emma quickly appeared on the rock she put her hands on her hips. She waved her wands over both of their bodies, effectively drying their bodies and clothes in seconds.

"All is fair in love and war," Regina said with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Yes, I suppose it is. I guess there's only one question that remains then" Emma said, her own mischievous smile growing.

"And what would that be?" Regina answered. Both women's skin prickled at the excitement that came from the challenge that was growing between them.

"Is this love? or war?" Emma said with a wink before disappearing in her signature blue smoke. Regina circled around, trying to locate Emma. She had almost turned in a full circle when an apple came hurdling through the air towards her. Regina held her hand up towards the apple, palm out. The apple froze just inches away from her face. She clenched her hands into a fist and the apple was crushed by an invisibly hand.

"Is that all you've got, darling?" Regina said as she spotted a crouching Emma in the tree in which the apple originated from.

"Not in the slightest,_your Highness_" Emma flirted. She disappeared a second later. When she reappeared, her body was pressed flat against Regina's back. Regina smiled when she felt Emma's breath on her neck. Emma leaned in and whispered into Regina's ear, her lips slightly brushing against her warm skin, "I'm merely going easy on you."

Regina raised her head to the sky and laughed, "Haven't you learned by now Emma? Never underestimate me," Regina said huskily. She twirled around, pulled Emma in by her hips and connected their lips passionately in a hurried kiss. Just as Emma turned her head to deepen it, Regina was gone, purple smoke lingering. Emma was left, lips still longing for the contact they had so quickly been deprived of.

"Oh you're gonna get it now" Emma said as she scanned the trees. She couldn't have torn the smile off her face if she tried. She transported from her current rock to another, and another, slowly moving to different points at the falls. When she landed on a rock that was surrounded by water on all sides, the waves crashed up unnaturally and drenched Emma in water.

Emma stood there, shocked by the cold, a challenging smirk plastered on her face when she realized it was Regina's doing. She flicked her hand to transport again but found her feet were stuck to the rock. She attempted to lift them up, but they refused to move. Seconds later, Regina appeared on a nearby rock.

"See? I told you to never…" Regina was interrupted as Emma and the rock her feet stuck to began to levitate, Emma mumbled something and the rock detached from her feet, smashing into the water.

"Underestimate you. I remember" Emma said from her still levitating position. Regina flicked her hand, concentration overwhelming her face. Emma's floating body disappeared in Regina's purple smoke and reappeared next to her. Emma's jaw dropped.

"You just..." Emma attempted to say, but her eyes just remained animatedly open wide.

"I just what?" Regina looked confused, unsure why Emma was suddenly so speechless.

"You just transported me without touching me." Emma finally spit out.

"So…"

"That's an extremely advanced move" Emma explained. "It took me months to learn how to do that."

"Well I'm a very fast study" Regina said, obviously very pleased with herself.

"That, I can agree with." Emma said. "Wanna see something?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Regina asked.

"Not, really, no." Emma smirked as she scooped Regina up into her arms. The two transported into a dark cave, stone walls surrounding them on every side except one. The non-stone wall was blanketed by falling water. Regina motioned at the water questioningly.

"We're behind the falls" Emma explained. She waved her hand and the water parted, showing the forest they had just been in.

"Look" Emma said as she grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her deeper into the cave. After a couple steps, the cave walls opened up substantially. Emma tilted her head up to look at the ceiling of the cave. It glittered and shone a multitude of colors despite there being very little light in the cave.

"What is it?" Regina whispered. It was breathtaking.

"Fairy dust" Emma said as she gazed up at the ceiling, "And over here," Emma took a few steps to the left, Regina following her closely behind, "are magic beans. They're extremely rare." In the corner of the cave stood a singular plant. The plant grew out of a dirt circle that seemed to be cut from the stone ground. On the end of the twisting stem sat three iridescent little beans.

"What do they do?" Regina asked as she reached her hand out to touch a bean.

"They allow you to travel to new realms" Regina looked at Emma, amazed. She had only heard of a few things powerful enough to do that, one being true love's kiss, of course.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but these ones aren't ready yet. They're still too small."

"Is it a good idea to just leave these here?" Regina looked worried that such a precious thing was just sitting in the forest unprotected by nothing more than a veil of water. Emma chuckled at Regina's innocence.

"I have more protection spells surrounding this cave than I can think of. The only people that can get in here are myself, and you." Emma said as she looked at Regina. "I've been growing these for awhile now. You see, in this realm, the beans take ten years to grow."

"Ten years!" Regina exclaimed. No wonder they were so hard to come by. It was probably difficult enough to get your hands on the seeds needed to grow them, but to keep them protected for ten years seemed near impossible.

"Yeah, they'll be ready in a few days." Emma said resolutely.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Well…" Emma looked down at her feet, suddenly very shy. "I thought maybe we could use one. We could have a fresh start."

"A fresh start?" Regina said softly. It was what she had wanted pretty much her whole life. It's all she could remember wanting since Daniel's death.

"Yeah. We could go anywhere you want." Emma said as she squeezed Regina's hand in her own. Regina turned and looked into Emma's emerald eyes. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest at the thought of leaving everything that had ruined her behind with the woman who had saved her.

"A fresh start."

* * *

**Please Review!**


	9. Wake Up Call

**A/N: Sentences or paragraphs of only italics will be used for flashbacks. I hope you like it :)**

* * *

"Are you okay?" Snow asked Regina at the dining room table one morning during breakfast. Regina was holding her cup of tea, her eyes zoned out, looking at nothing in particular. She traced her finger mindlessly along the smooth side of the ceramic mug.

"What do you mean?" Regina said as soon as she snapped out her daydream. She and Emma had spent the last few perfect days together. Emma had shown Regina new places, she made her feel new things, she gave her hope, something that had been missing for so long in her life. Needless to say Regina was floating on clouds the past couple days and it just so happened that Snow White was going to be her wake up call.

"You've been staring at the wall for ten minutes now. You haven't eaten anything." Snow motioned at Regina's untouched porridge. The brown slop sat unpleasantly in her white bowl. Her face twisted into disgust as she eyed it.

"I'm fine." Regina said briskly, not wanting Snow to ruin the wonderful mood she was in. The only reason she was sitting at the table with Snow now was because Emma had gone to sword fight with King Michael. Apparently it was something they got along doing, a father bonding activity of sorts. Because of all the indulgences the King enjoyed during his spoiled life made him slow on his feet Emma could beat him with a few swipes if she wanted, but she held back since he seemed to love sparring with her so much.

"You look happy." The now pre-teen Snow cocked her head sideways. Regina had been her stepmother for some time now, and well she sounded like the cold and calculating woman she had grown to know, a new lightness spread upon her face. She was more relaxed somehow.

"I am happy" Regina said quietly as she slipped back into a daydream. Just yesterday her and Emma had gone horseback riding. They had both shown off their expertise, competing in every little thing: how fast, how high, how long.

"_Regina, don't be jealous. I'm just a better rider than you. It comes naturally I suppose" Emma said while grinning and circling on her horse around Regina and her stationary one. _

"_You are nothing of the sort. Stop telling lies. I know you conjured up that mud pit. I could see the blue shimmer to it." Regina argued playfully. She flicked her hand and in a second appeared on Emma's horse with her. She sat in front of Emma's spread legs and took up the reins that had fallen. "Now let me show you how its really done." Emma had wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and breathed in the flowery smell of Regina's perfume. _

_The wind blew softly through their hair. Regina, who was all too distracted by directing the horse, and the feeling of Emma's body so comfortably wrapped around her own to notice her hair as it blew with the wind, falling in her face. Emma flicked her hand, a white lily sticking out from behind her ear, effectively holding her the loose strands back. Regina smiled as Emma leaned up and kissed her cheek softly._

"Will you tell me what has made you so happy?" Snow asked as she continued to shovel the porridge into her mouth.

"I can't" Regina said, her mind still in a far off place. Her voice seemed to be responding automatically, seemingly not in conjunction with her brain.

"I promise not to tell" Snow pleaded, getting frustrated with Regina for dragging this out so long. She had always been a curious child, and as Regina clearly knew, it had gotten her into trouble more than a few times in the past.

"What?" The whining and urgency in Snow's voice had snapped Regina out of her thoughts. She replayed the conversation that had just occurred in her head. "What? Are you crazy?" Regina said incredulously as her mouth dropped open at Snow's oblivion. She was desperate to get out of this place. She and Emma were already making preparations to use the magic bean to travel to a new land. It must have been the close opportunity available, or the harsh contrast with the memories that Snow held versus the new ones with Emma, but whatever it was, Regina's carefully created façade around Snow collapsed.

"You ruined my life, Snow White. You ruined it. Daniel died. Do you realize that? My mother. Killed. Daniel. Because of you." Regina laughed bitterly. " You do not get to know anything about my life." She felt as though a giant weight was lifted off her shoulders. After taking a deep breath, she found her lungs feeling considerably less crushed than they had been for the past few years.

"If it weren't for Emma, I would, agh. I don't even know what I would do to you, something bad." Regina mumbled incoherently to herself as she stomped out of the dining room. She vowed to wait in her room until Emma returned. That would be a foolproof way to keep herself out of trouble.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the kingdom, images and projector like videos flashed behind Rumplestilskin's beady, little eyes. As he received a prophecy of the changed future, he scowled.

"No, no, no, that will not do." He growled as he waved his hand and a nearby carriage toppled over and smashed into the ground. The surrounding villagers rushed to help, but Rumplestilskin continued walking without a second thought.

"Without her suppressed anger towards Snow White, she'll never cast the curse." He mumbled maniacally to himself. He stomped through the village and disappeared mid step.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Emma sang jokingly as she entered Regina's room. When the door opened fully, Emma realized that Regina was not in the room, but Leopold. He sat stiffly on a chair by Regina's armoire.

"Where's Regina." Emma snapped, her mood immediately on the offensive.

"So, it's true. You have taken a liking to _my_ wife, have you?" Leopold said, emphasizing the my in 'my wife', as he picked up random items on the armoire, before putting them down only a second later. He refused to make eye contact with Emma.

"She's not yours" Emma said sharply. Her hand drifted to the sword that was still placed in the sheath on her hip.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Kill me in my own castle? No, you're smarter than that." Leopold finally looked up at Emma with snakelike eyes. "I'll tell you what you are going to do though. You're going to make up an excuse to Daddy, I don't care what it is. And you're going to leave. You're never going to come back to this castle. If you even try to tell Michael about our little secret, I will make sure that within the hour that you do, you will be dead. You know very well how easy it is for me to take care of someone, and you will be no different" Leopold spat. Emma's hand tightened on the hilt of her sword, her knuckles rapidly turning white.

"I won't stay away from her."

"We'll see about that." Leopold said as he shoved Emma aside with his shoulder, but just before he reached the entrance of his doorway he shouted while his back was still to Emma, "I hope you're enjoying my little whore. She never was any good in bed anyway." He slammed the door shut behind him before Emma could launch at him. Emma picked up the unlit lantern on the side table and threw it against the wall, glass shattering everywhere. She sat on the edge of Regina's bed and rested her face in her hands. Choking sobs racked her body.

In the corner of the room, where a large wardrobe sat, faint purple smoke escaped from the cracks. In seconds, Regina appeared underneath her apple tree. Her face was tracked with the silent stream of tears that had trailed down her face.

She had been in her room waiting for Emma when she heard Leopold barking orders to the maids in the hall. His voice just kept getting louder, and louder and Regina assumed he was coming for her. She hid in the wardrobe, standing perfectly still, barely breathing in the darkness. The only light came from a crack between the wardrobe doors; she aligned her face with the crack and looked out into the room.

Leopold paced in her room for a while. Back and forth. Back and forth. His motions seemed distant, detached somehow. He moved like a robot, and his eyes were set in the distance. He continued to pace back and forth, each foot stomping on the floor with each step. The rhythm of his foot stomping was broken by Emma's entrance in her room.

'Honey, I'm home!' Emma had said happily. It caused a smile to break out on Regina's face despite the situation. Regina held her breath as she listened and watched Leopold threaten Emma. She watched him turn angrier when Emma had refused to bow down to his request. She had finally transported out of the room as Emma began to cry.

Now, alone underneath the apple tree she was racked with guilt. She couldn't put Emma in danger. Not again. Her sobs turned to loud cries that she attempted to stifle with her hand. She walked back and forth in front of the apple tree trying to think of something she could do. What could she do? It dawned on her that she only had one choice. Only one person that could deal with this. Rumplstilskin. She whispered his name into the wind and sure enough, he appeared immediately.

"Yes, dearie? Are you in need of…assistance?" Rumplestilskin jumped around in his impish way.

"I need to save Emma. Leopold is going after her. I need to kill him, it's the only way to end this whole thing." Regina was gasping for breath, her mind was whirling so fast that she couldn't concentrate on breathing.

"Now that, I can do!" Rumplestilskin bounded over to Regina, his skin sparkling in the moonlight. "There's only one catch, my dear."

"What is it? I'll give anything to save her."

"Well that is quite a coincidence since this sacrifice is quite a large one."

"Tell me" Regina demanded. Her patience was fraying. Her voice shook with desperation. She couldn't lose Emma. She couldn't be left alone again.

"Your heart, I need your heart"

"Wh-Why do you need my heart? Regina asked. Rumplestilskin's smile grew impossibly wide. He thought back to a day earlier when he had been pacing and fretting over the change of future that was going to foil his plans. Emma had diluted Regina's anger, the anger that was supposed to drive her to become the Evil Queen and eventually enact his realm wide curse.

It wasn't until he realized that the precious bond of love between the two could be used to his advantage. All he had to do was conjure up a little courage potion for Leopold to drink. Which had made the King neurotic; apparently the man was a giant coward who had a lot bottled up a lot inside of him. He had intended for spell ridden Leopold to go and shake Emma up a little bit, maybe unnerve Emma enough to leave, breaking Regina's heart on the way but no, he went all crazy and threatened to kill her. And no surprise here, Emma decided not to listen.

Oh well, Rumplestilskin shrugged, didn't' matter to him. He turned back to Regina.

"Only true love can make enough power to kill a man like Leopold. He has many enchantments protecting him from danger." Rumplestilskin lied. He had no idea, didn't really care. He was completely and irreversibly talking out of his ass.

"But, I don't even know if Emma's my true love." Regina stammered. She felt foolish making an assumption, even if she knew it was true in her heart.

"You know dearie, you know."

"What will I do without a heart? Where will it go?"

"Your heart is only needed to enact the curse, to draw energy from it. I'll get it back to you after Leopold is dead. It'll be a little beat up, but I'm sure your savior Emma could help you with that." Regina's body tensed, she searched her mind for other options, but what it came down to was that Emma was going to end up dead if she didn't do something immediately.

Her logical thinking was blurred, the magical knowledge that Emma had taught, all pushed back. She thought of all the sacrifices that Emma made for her, all she had given up for her. She squared her shoulders.

"I'll do it."

"Ah, very wise decision. Well let's get this over with." Rumplestilskin said gleefully. He didn't bat an eye as this beautiful woman lay down her life to fulfill a lie that she thought was going to save her lover's life. Regina nodded that she was ready.

Rumplestilskin pulled up her sleeve, readied his hand, and plunged it into Regina's heaving chest.


	10. A Rewritten Story

**A/N: Plot progression chapter. Hope you guys enjoy. This chapter will set up the second half of the story!**

* * *

The moment Rumplestilskin's hand entered Regina's chest, Emma lurched forward. She was still sitting in Regina's room, her head hanging down as she thought of a way out of the situation. She clasped her hand to her own chest; it felt like someone was trying to rip it out, yet she was the only one in the room. Her head snapped up. Regina was in danger.

She disappeared in floatng blue smoke, hoping that her will, her need, to find Regina would allow herself to transport to Regina without the knowledge of where she actually was. When she appeared seconds later under the apple tree she swayed a little from the disorienting trip.

She saw Regina and Rumplestilskin. Regina was on her knees now, crying out as Rumplestilskin's hand attempted to jerk it's way out of her chest cavity. He seemed to be struggling, as if her heart was chained inside of her, unable to be removed.

Emma collapsed to the ground, her heart aching and pulsating with pain. The pain was snaked out into her arms, it shockwaved through her chest, it stabbed at her head. She lifted an arm shakily and sent a magic stream of white light towards Rumplestilskin.

He was thrown back by the force of her magic, his hand finally releasing its clutch on Regina's heart. With the pain in her chest dissipating rapidly, Emma was able to stand and jog over to a fallen Regina. She was splayed out on the ground, her face pale.

"Emma?" Regina said weakly as her eyes searched Emma's face.

"Shhhh…I'm here. I'm here."

"Emma I was just trying to… save you" Regina pushed out. Her energy was obviously drained from whatever Rumplestilskin had just done to her.

"Oh, Regina. You don't need to-"

"So you managed it dearie?" Rumplestilskin interrupted, unfazed at the recent turn of events. His face remained neutral despite the sharp disappointment he felt. He waited for a new prophecy, a new change of the future to fill his mind, but it remained cloudy and hazy in his brain. It was Emma's magic he realized. She was filled with such pure magic, that his darkness was overwhelmed by it.

"Yes. I did it." Emma growled.

"Did what?" Regina was genuinely confused about what had just occurred. Why hadn't Rumplestilskin been able to take her heart? Emma turned her head toward Regina, but her eyes remained on Rumplestilskin suspiciously for a little longer.

"I tethered our hearts" Emma said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you can feel what I feel, and I can feel what you feel. It also means that nothing magically induced can kill you. It means my magic will protect you. Always." Emma explained. Regina mulled it over, it did explain why she and Emma had seemed to feed off each other's love, her own love growing when Emma showed how much she loved her. She had never thought about it, but she realized she literally could feel when Emma was happy.

"It also means that I can't take your heart" Rumplestiilskin added.

"What did you want with it anyway?" Emma barked. Anger brewing in her know.

"Why, she wanted to kill Leopold, it was the only way, dearie."

Emma snarled and took a threatening step toward him, "You know that's not true"

"Ah, alas. I do. But she didn't." Rumplestilskin giggled. "No matter, I'm going to end you now anyway," He said to Emma, "And then you're hearts will no longer be tethered and poof! My problem will be fixed." He flicked his hand at the same time Emma did. His fireball blocked by her defensive barrier. The clear barrier protected Emma and Regina in a shimmering dome.

"Reach in my pocket" Emma screamed. Wind was now picking up around them, a makeshift tornado overturning trees and stones that smashed into Emma's barrier. It was getting weaker by the second, flickering more dully than minutes before, but magic continued to flow out of Emma's open stretched hands into it.

Rumplestilskin was laughing crazily as his hair flew back and forth in the wind, watching the women struggle to remain on the ground. Regina pushed herself up and dug down into Emma's pocket. When she pulled it out, she held a small iridescent bean in her palm.

"Now's as good of time as any?" Emma said with a strained smile and a shrug.

"But your parents…" Regina exclaimed.

"…Will still be my parents. If we don't go now, we'll die." Emma looked deep into Regina's eyes and for a second everything else faded away.

"Okay." Regina whispered. She threw the bean down on the grass a couple inches away from them. As soon as it made contact with the ground, a green hole appeared. The hole grew rapidly, devouring any land that stood in its way. It crackled and flashed with energy.

"When I say three, jump," Emma said. Regina wrapped her hand around Emma's wrist while Emma's hands still flowed magic into the barrier.

"1…2…3" Emma dropped her hands and leapt toward the hole. Rumplestilskin saw the women jump and chased after them, diving into the hole just before it closed. All of the magic that had been combating each other, that had completely saturated the air, a combination of both Emma's magic and Rumplestilskin's magic were sucked into the portal as well. As the three fell, purple, blue, and black smoke whipped around them.

And then everything went black.

* * *

Regina blinked her eyes open slowly. Her head was pounding. Slowly, the world came into view. A white ceiling. She tilted her head down. She was in a bed_. Whose bed was she in?_ The sheets were the softest things she had ever felt. She lifted the blanket up off of her and noticed what she was wearing, silk pajamas. She gaped at her matching pants and shirt set. _Where the hell had she gotten these?_ _Where was she?_ Her heart began to race when she realized Emma wasn't with her.

She leapt out of bed and made her way to doorway. Just as she was turning the knob, she caught a glance of her reflection in the mirror. She yelped. Her hair was cut shoulder length. Everything else about her seemed to be the same besides the fact that she looked older. She opened the door and found a small room filled with clothes. She searched through them. All she could find were tons of black pants and silky shirts. She opted for a simple grey dress that hung and threw it on. She needed to find Emma.

She exited the small clothing room and raced to another white door. Bathroom. She shut the door, but only after glancing at a white fixture that was placed against the wall. She had never seen that thing before. She shut the door and tried the last door in the room. It opened up to a hallway where many other doors lined the walls.

She walked down the hallway and descended down the stairs, her head gazing upwards at the high ceiling and huge fan that spun around slowly. Her bare feet pattered on the wooden floor.

Sharp pounding came from the door located in front of her. She jumped and nervously walked towards it. She had no idea who or what could be behind the door. She grabbed a long rod that was standing next to the doorway. One end was curved in a U shape while there seemed to be a material of sorts wrapped around it.

She wielded the rod like a sword as she twisted a silver thing she assumed to be a lock and cautiously opened the door inch by inch. When a four inch gap was present between the door and the frame, Regina was thrown back by a force on the other side. The door swung open violently.

"Regina!?" Emma yelled. When she saw that Regina now stood a few steps away from the door, shell shocked at the intrusion, Emma ran and pulled her into an all encompassing hug.

"Oh my god, I 'm so glad I found you" She gushed as she rested her head in the crook of Regina's neck.

"Emma" Regina said, relieved. She let herself sag in Emma's arms. She didn't care where they were, as long as they were together. Emma was crying out of pure happiness that she wasn't alone in this strange world.

"Emma where are we?" Regina asked after the two had sufficiently calmed down.

"I don't know, but there's no magic here." Emma said as she thrust her hands out to prove a point. As expected, nothing happened. In fact, she had spent the first ten minutes of her time in this realm frustratingly trying and retrying to do any magic she could think of, even the simplest tricks. She couldn't even light a candle, not that she had seen any candles anyway.

"There's also something else that's strange…" Emma began uneasily.

"What?"

"Do you know how I found you here?"

"No…"

"On the street, someone knew me. They called me Emma. I asked them if they knew where you were and they told me you lived here. Regina, how is this happening?"

"I have no idea." Regina said quietly. The two had never gotten as far to extensively think that a new realm may not just be an easy place to start over. Emma suddenly stepped back and looked at Regina. The grey dress hugged her hips tightly and the V of the wrapped neckline dipped down tantalizingly.

"Wait...what are you wearing? Emma's raked up and down Regina slowly, a predatory grin on her face." Regina looked down at her outfit, not seeing Emma's face.

"Oh, uh, I found it in the closet. Do you like it?" Regina self consciously as she flattened and re-flattened her dress. She had never worn anything like this in her own realm and had no idea what the style was here.

"You look hot" Emma said bluntly. Regina's head shot up and finally saw the smile that had fully blossomed on Emma's face. She grinned back and took this time to check out Emma's own outfit. She was wearing blue pants, a rough material she didn't quite recognize, and they were tight. Like skin tight. They could have been painted on. Her white tank top was just as tight and she could see the outline of her bra just through the tank top. Regina licked her lips; maybe there was an upside to this new world anyway.

Before she knew what was happening Emma's hips slammed up against hers and pushed her backwards. Her back hit the wall and the breath in her lungs exhaled out in a burst. Emma's face was inches away from her own and her eyes were growing darker by the second.

Regina smirked as her own body hummed with arousal. The new world they had just stepped into was overwhelming to say the least, the only thing they knew at this point was that they had each other. They needed something familiar. Something they both craved. Leaning in, their lips connected for the briefest of seconds before a ringing sound echoed through the house. The two women jumped apart and looked around for the source.

When knocking was accompanied by the repetitive sound on the door Emma put a hand on Regina's waist protectively, effectively telling her to stay put. She reached out for the door handle and opened it slowly, peaking her head around.

"Ma! What are you doing here!" A little boy with tousled brown hair looked up from the stoop. "And why is the door locked?" He said as he nudged past Emma and entered the house. The little boy slipped off his shoes on a nearby mat and clambered into another room his backpack and scarf falling off of him with each step.

Emma stood there with her jaw to the floor_. 'Did he just call me Ma?'_ Regina pushed off the wall and went to stand by Emma, a questioning and confused look in her eyes. This movement caught the boy's eyes and he looked up from the book he was now holding in his hand.

"Oh hey, Mom." The boy said this with much less enthusiasm than he had to Emma.

"Are you talking to me?" Regina asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah…who else would I be talking to?" The boy said dumbly. He turned around and went through a door that swung shut behind him.

"Wh-what. Who is that?" Regina said, panicked. Why did he call us Mom and Ma?" Her voice was high pitched, the stress evidently consuming her in the constantly unpredictable situation she had found herself in. Emma put a hand on Regina's back and rubbed circles on it softly.

"I don't know…Is that our child? Did we have a child here?"

"Maybe we've been here for awhile already and we don't remember it?" Regina offered. It sounded crazy in her head but she had read stories about all the different kinds of realms and how time could get messed up when traveling between them.

"I guess. Maybe we shou-"

"Why are you touching my Mom like that Emma?" The little boy appeared through the swinging door with a sandwich in his hand. His head cocked to the side when he took in the close proximity and worried looks on his mother's face.

"I was just… I was making her feel better." Emma offered. She didn't know who this boy thought she was, or what she was supposed to do.

"Why would you do that? She hates you."

"You hate me?" Emma asked Regina.

"Of course I don't."

"Yes, you do Mom. You're always mean to her and you never let me see her."

"What?" asked Emma.

"What?" asked Regina.

"What!" asked the little boy.

"I am not mean to her" Regina defended. It didn't even make sense, she thought to herself, why was she fighting this? She didn't know who this boy was or why he thought she would ever be mean to Emma.

"Yes you are. You're the Evil Queen and Emma is just trying to be the Savior and you're ruining everything!" The boy screamed as he stomped up the stairs.

"You know I'm a Queen?" Regina called after him. The little boy whipped around as fast as possible.

"You admit you're the Evil Queen?" He asked incredulously. His eyes were as wide as they could possibly could.

"Well I don't know about the evil part, but yes I was a Queen." Regina said as a matter of fact. The boy was speechless.

"But… no you were evil. You wanted to kill Snow White. You cast a curse."

"I did no such thing! I hate Snow White, but I never hurt her. And if anyone were to cast a curse it would be Emma, not me."

"Hey!" Emma spoke up.

"Not the evil part, just because of your magic skills" Regina complimented. Emma returned a cocky smile. The two stared at each other for a couple seconds before returning their attention back the to the boy. He just stood there with his jaw on the floor.

"This is so weird. Follow me," He said seriously before turning around and sprinting up the stairs. He was moving so fast that the two women could barely keep up with him. He raced into a room and when the blonde and brunette entered behind him he had already heaved a gigantic book up out of a chest that sat at the foot of his bed.

"Come here, look." The boy waved the women over and motioned for them to sit on his bed. They cautiously advanced toward him and sat down so close to each other that their hips were brushing. Henry gave them a weird look as he opened up the book that was adorned with gold writing of 'Once Upon a Time' on the front.

He opened the first page and immediately his eyebrows knit together. It was covered with writing and pictures he had never seen before. He began flipping rapidly through the pages only to find that all of the pages were different. The story had completely changed. He went back to the front and began to read out loud.

The story was a chronicle of Emma and Regina's life. It began with Daniel's death in the stables; Emma was shown crouching in the darkness, crying with Regina. It went on to tell of everything that happened in their lives. Emma and Regina listened as the boy read, their eyebrows raised to the sky.

The story left out the gory details of their lives, and twisted Emma's run in with Leopold to resemble more of a battle than a rape, but most of it was pretty spot on. On the last page, the story told of how Rumplestilskin had tried to steal Regina's heart, how Emma had transported in and saved them by jumping through the magic portal.

Henry turned the page to read what was next, but the rest of the pages in the book were blank. The story screeched to a unfinished halt. He lifted his head up and stared at the two women before him, narrowing his eyes.

"What did you do to my book?"

"How do you have that? What is that?" Emma asked in a hurried breath.

"I don't know what this is. This book used to have a different story in it where Emma was a Savior and Mom was the Evil Queen. You've seen it Mom. I told you about it once."

"But I was never an evil queen! You read it in the book!" Regina said frustrated, _how come Emma got to be the savior?_ She groaned to herself.

"Yes you were! Wait…you're telling me this book is true?"

"Yes"

"Yeah" Regina and Emma said at the same time.

"I don't believe you," The boy said skeptically. Emma and Regina stayed silent for a little while. If this land really didn't have magic, it would be hard to believe.

"Wait. I can show you." Emma stood up and twirled around looking for something.

"Does your Mom have shorts here?" She asked the boy.

"Uh…I think so. I'll go look." He rushed out of the room, not even asking why Emma would ask for such a random item right now. He came back seconds later with cotton pants. "She has these old sweatpants?" He held them up by the waistband questioningly. Emma and Regina both grabbed them and fingered the soft and fluffy material. It was softer than any cotton they had ever experienced.

"Okay, I 'll be right back." Emma ran out of the room and returned later wearing the sweatpants.

She turned around a hiked her pant leg up revealing the long scar that remained on her calf as a reminder of her encounter with Leopold. The minute that the brunette boy saw it, surprise crossed his face and he flipped back to the page in the book that told about when Emma got it. He put the picture in the book next to Emma's leg. It was an identical match.

"Woah."

* * *

**What do you guys think? Is it going the way you expected?**


	11. Adjustment Period

**A/N: This may have gone in a direction you didn't quite expect. In fact, I didn't expect it. But i'm having fun so I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

"Wait, so do you even know who I am?" The little boy looked up through his thick eyelashes shyly. The thought that he was now talking to two women who might not be his mothers really confused him. _Who were they then?_

"Uh…not really." Emma said awkwardly. She didn't want the little boy to break down now that he couldn't find his Mothers, who apparently happen to be identical to them… Her face scrunched up as she tried to figure out what happened, but only succeeded in confusing herself more. Regina placed a hand on Emma's back.

"Well, my name is Henry." The boy reached out his hand to first shake Emma's hand, and then Regina's.

"Hello Henry," Regina said, she had always been quick on her feet and figured someone would need to get the ball rolling while Emma was seemingly moments away from giving herself an aneurism from thinking so hard. "So, this mother of yours, the one that looks like me. What is she like?" Regina asked.

"She's pretty mean. She's the mayor. Everyone in town is scared of her, and in the Enchanted Forest she was the Evil Queen." Henry said this like it was the most normal thing in the world. Emma chuckled and nudged Regina.

"Ha ha, Regina, you were the mean one," Emma teased while Regina scoffed. "Who was I Henry?" Emma began to bounce up and down a little in excitement.

"You were my Mom too, but you're the Sheriff. You just moved here. You're the Savior who is going to defeat the Evil Queen!" When Henry said it he raised his fist in triumph. After realizing how enthusiastic he had gotten he lowered his hand and nervously looked over at Regina. But Regina just sat there, a small smile on her face at the gusto of the little boy.

"And we're both your Moms because we're together right?" Emma asked.

"Together?" Henry asked questioningly, his eyebrows knit together as if he didn't understand the question.

"Yeah, like married."

"No way! They hate each other! I'm pretty sure my mom tried to kill you once Emma." Regina's mouth fell open. Emma burst out into laughter.

"Regina you owe me big time in this world. You sound awful" Emma's body shook with laughter.

"It's not my fault you were apparently infuriating enough for me to want to kill you!" Regina yelled, a playful glint in her eye. The banter that was always present in their relationship remained despite the new realm.

"So…what are we going to do?" Emma asked Henry.

"Well. I guess you'll have to pretend to be them until we can figure out how to send you back to your old land." Henry said.

"There has to be some magic somewhere around here." Emma muttered.

"Alright kid, so what do I normally wear? This?" Emma motioned to the clothes that she woke up in.

"Hey! She used to call me kid too! Yeah you wear that, but you have a leather jacket, too."

"Maybe this won't be that hard after all," Regina said as she straightened her posture and leaned to give Emma a sweet kiss on the cheek. Henry face palmed and groaned. "You're supposed to hate each other!" He whined.

"Oh, sorry. Got it." Regina threw Emma a death glare that made both Emma and Henry tense up despite knowing it was fake.

"Better," Henry said.

* * *

"Henry, what's this?" Regina flipped a switch and a loud grinding sound started. It was dinnertime and Henry had dragged the two women into the kitchen to make dinner. His mother had known how to cook exceptionally well, so he just figured the two women could handle it. Boy was he wrong. They wondered around the kitchen like lost puppies. They asked about anything and everything. Regina kept flipping the switch on and off while she looked around frantically. She flipped it up. Grind. She flipped it down. Silence.

"Henry, what does this thing do?" Emma held up a blender. Regina flipped up the switch. Grind. She flipped it back down. Silence. She groaned in frustration. _Where was it coming from?!_

"Henry what..."

"It's a garbage disposal! It chops up food that ends up in the sink." He said exasperatedly.

"Oh" Regina flipped on the switch on. Grind. She flipped it off. Silence.

"Oooookay. We're going out for dinner." Henry said as he clasped both of the women's hands with his own and dragged them out of the house. They whined and complained about seeing one more thing or waiting just a couple of minutes but Henry just kept trudging on ahead. The trio walked down the street to Granny's. Henry pulled them to a halt right before they entered.

"Okay, you," he pointed to Regina, "need to be really cold and mean. Don't really smile at anyone and don't say thank you." Emma looked at Regina with sad eyes; she knew Regina was familiar with this personality. She use to wear it like a glove after all, but had recently given it up after her freedom from Leopold. She wanted nothing less than to return to it.

"Just pretend you're Queen. I'll be right here." Emma whispered into Regina's ear. Regina nodded solemnly. She would do it if it meant she could blend in.

"and you," Henry pointed to Emma now, "are really friendly and talk to basically everyone. That makes this harder cause everyone is going to think you know them. I'll tell you who everyone is in there but make sure you're just really vague. Don't say anything specific. Okay?"

"Okay." Emma nodded sharply and squared her shoulders, ready for the challenge.

"Also it's gong to be really weird we're all eating together so people might stare, but just ignore them." Henry opened the door and took a deep breath as if he was leading troops into battle. When the blonde and brunette entered the diner, they realized how right Henry was, a questioning and almost fearful looked crossed the other diner's faces when they saw the two women together.

They slid into an open booth with Henry and Regina on one side and Emma on the other. Emma reached under the table and squeezed Regina's knee supportively.

"Hi Emma, Henry, Madame Mayor. Ruby's voice rang cheerily to Emma and Henry, but turned serious when reaching Regina's title.

"Hi Ruby!" Henry said gleefully. Ruby smiled at Henry and then turned to Emma, her eyes lingered over Emma's toned arms. After a moment she cleared her throat and took out her pad.

"What can I get for you?"

"What do…" Emma stared at the menu that was placed in front of her.

"We'll get our usual. With a milkshake for me." Henry said quickly. Ruby nodded and walked away.

"What's a milkshake?" asked Regina.

"You'll see! It's really good." Henry sat with a sneaky smile; he never got to have milkshakes with dinner. Having pseudo-parents who knew nothing about this world might have its perks. Ruby returned a little while later with their food. She gave Regina her food first, sliding the grilled chicken salad down the table. She then placed Henry's burger down in front of him with a pleasant smile.

When it came to Emma, she leaned all the way over the table, her low cut shirt revealing most of her prominent cleavage as she slowly placed Emma's burger in front of her. When her face was inches away from Emma's she said, "I hope you enjoy it," with a wink. Emma stared at Ruby, her mouth hanging open. Regina scoffed and jostled around her silverware.

"That'll be all, _Ruby_" She spat. Ruby immediately straightened her body and hurried away. When she was gone Regina followed her with her eyes, daggers seemingly shooting from them. She turned back to look at Emma who was smirking, Henry sat there with a shockingly similar grin on his face.

"What was that all about?" Emma said, chuckling slightly.

"What was what about?" Regina acted as though nothing had just occurred and began to fork her chicken salad. She scrunched her face in disgust as she realized that salad was again a main feature in her cuisine.

"Oh, nothing. Just the deathly 'I'm going to kill you with one look' thing you had going on back there."

"She was acting inappropriately…in front of Henry."

"Mhmm…yeah." Emma said as he picked up her burger and took a huge bite from it. She groaned as she chewed it. "Mmm what is this? It's so good."

"Here try this." Henry squeezed some ketchup onto Emma plate, took one of her fries, and swiped it through the ketchup. He held up the fry to Emma who took it and shoved it in her mouth.

"Damn, that's delicious. Here, Regina, try it." Regina eagerly pushed away her salad and shoved the fry in her mouth hungrily. She immediately began to consume most of Emma's fries, stopping when Ruby approached the table again. Regina narrowed her eyes.

"Can we get another order of fries please?" Emma asked Ruby when she was near. Emma looked at Regina and subtly winked. A half smile grew on Regina's face, but she quickly schooled her features when she felt Henry nudging her in the side. 'You. hate. her.' he mouthed.

"Of course, Em-ma. Anything else you'd like?" Ruby flirted. She was never one to back down from a challenge and she didn't understand why Regina had stopped her in the first place. It's not like the mayor had any interest in Emma anyway. She leaned over and placed her hand lightly on Emma's arm.

"Uh…I think that's it." Emma said nervously. She peaked a look at Regina who began fuming when she saw that Ruby had touched Emma. Emma's eyes opened wide. Oh no. Regina basically shoved Henry out of the booth and stood up. Ruby took a step back questioningly. Regina reached in the other side of the booth, yanked Emma by the hand, dragging her towards the back of the diner toward the bathroom.

Regina had no idea what a bathroom in this world was like, or that the door she was talking towards was one, but she wasn't one who did anything half assed and if she was going to stomp off in a jealous rage, damn it she was going to do it dramatically. Once inside the bathroom Regina pushed Emma against the wall and kissed her passionately. Emma tensed at first, expecting something very different to come out of all the stomping and anger that Regina had exhibited on her way here. Her fear quickly subsided though when she felt Regina's hips press wantingly into hers.

Emma quickly clasped onto Regina's hips and flipped them around. Regina's back hitting the wall with a soft thud. Emma went straight for Regina's neck, kissing and sucking her way up it, small moans were released from Regina's throat. A light knock sounded at the door. Emma broke her lips form Regina's neck and groaned. She leaned her forehead on Regina's shoulder. Regina chuckled and ran her fingers through Emma's hair.

"But…." Emma whined.

"Soon enough, my love." Regina whispered. The women pushed off the wall and opened the door. Innocent and wide-eyed Henry stood in the doorway.

"Uh... I didn't know where you guys went so I…" He blushed as he looked at Regina's mussed hair and lightly reddened neck. Regina followed her eyes and quickly fixed her hair, covering her neck in the process.

"Don't worry. We're all good, kid. Lets get out of here before Regina gets any more jealous," Emma said as she led Henry towards the front of the diner. Henry had already paid with money from Regina's wallet he had swiped from their house. He knew the two women were clueless when it came to money.

"I was not jealous" Regina pouted as Emma held the door open for her to leave.

"Yes…you were."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Then what was that in the bathroom?" Emma's voice dropped to a hushed whisper so Henry couldn't overhear.

"Are you complaining?"

"Nope," Emma said with a giant on her face.

"Um… guys?" Henry interrupted after walking silently ahead of the two women.

"Yeah?"

"Yes?"

"If you guys are here…where are my real Moms?" Henry's tone was filled with sadness. He looked down at the ground as his feet shuffled along the ground. Regina and Emma looked at either questioningly. They had no idea what to tell the small boy.

"I'm sure they're safe Henry. Don't worry, they'll be back before you know it."

"Maybe you could use this time to show us what you like to do with your moms?" Regina offered.

"Okay," Henry said slowly, it would be nice to have his moms getting along, or at least his pretend moms getting along.

"We have to find Rumplestilskin. I bet he's here. He's probably the one who caused all of this." Emma grumbled. She sighed into the warm summer air. The three continued the walk back in silence to the mansion.

A cool breeze blew and Emma's golden hair fluttered around in the wind. A strand of hair crossed against her face. Regina looked over at Emma and watched the stubborn and hardheaded women stomp along next to her. She smiled softly. _Oh, Emma_.

Her hand reached over to Emma's face and pushed the fallen strand back behind Emma's ear. Emma looked into Regina's swirling brown eyes and immediately calmed. She could face anything with this woman beside her. And if she was going to be stuck in an alternate realm with strange people who knew her and Rumplestilskin ruining their lives, then the only way she was going to survive was with this beautiful, courageous woman next to her.

Emma mouthed 'I love you' to Regina, who returned it with her own silent 'I love you'. The two women stopped walking. Emma placed her hand on Regina's cheek and pulled her in slowly. Their lips pressed together softly. Suddenly, a shockwave of magic burst from the two, both women's vision were filled with flashes of Storybrooke's Regina and Emma's pasts.

Regina saw herself with Leopold. Killing Leopold. Casting the curse. Raising Henry. Emma showing up on her doorstep. Henry and Emma hugging.

Emma saw herself as a foster child. Going to jail. Having Henry. Meeting Regina. Moving to Storybrooke.

The two women pulled back as their jaws fell open.

"What just happened..." Emma whispered to Regina. Regina shook her head from side to side. She had no idea.

"That was them, right?" Regina whispered. Emma nodded.

"I think so."

"You guys are in love, right?" Henry stopped suddenly and whipped around. He was completely absorbed in his own thoughts and oblivious to the moment that had just happened behind him.

"Uh…." Emma stammered.

"Yes, we are." Regina said confidently.

"That's cool. It's nice. You know…for my Moms to get along." Henry said as a familiar blush began to creep up his neck.

"I'm sure your Moms will figure out their problems soon enough." Emma piped up.

"Do you think…maybe my moms…my real moms could…maybe…" Henry trailed off.

"What Henry?" Regina asked.

"Do you think they could fall in love?" The hope in Henry's voice was heartbreaking.

"Regina used to hate me. And then she fell in love with my charm and good looks, so I think anything is possible." Emma said, attempting to lighten the mood. It worked, causing a smile to break out on Henry's face. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, my Moms are in your land?" Henry asked. The two women looked at each other, their faces paling at the thought.

"Maybe…" Emma said weakly. Regina's stomach dropped at the prospect that a different, yet very similar version of her self could be roaming around her old kingdom.

* * *

Light began to infiltrate Emma's vision. The darkness that had surrounded her turned from black to a hazy blur. She blinked several time as the blobs began to sharpen into images. Her head was pounding. She lifted her head up and looked around. Regina lay next to her. _Why was Regina wearing that dress?_ She looked down at her own clothes. _Why was she wearing this dress?_ She rolled on her side and nudged Regina's arm.

"Regina." She whispered. Regina began to stir, her own eyes blinking at the adjustment. "Regina!" Emma whispered again, harshly. She crawled slowly toward Regina. Emma leaned over the brunette so that she was in Regina's line of vision. "Regina?"

"Emma? Emma!" Regina pushed Emma back. Emma smirked, "You called me Emma," She pointed out.

"I meant Miss Swan." Regina snapped. She forced herself up form the floor.

"Um… where are we?" Emma said as she finally began to look around. There was a field of grass that was surrounded by a thick forest.

Regina shook her head, gaining orientation. She looked around similarly to Emma. Her eyes widened substantially and the color drained out of her face when she turned her head around to look behind her.

"Oh. My. God." There stood King Leopold's stone castle, as cold and hard as she remembered it.

* * *

**Let me know what you think!**


	12. Easy as Cake

**A/N: So I'll be splitting the chapters more or less based on Emma Swan and Previously Evil Queen Regina in the Enchanted Forest and lovebirds Emma and Regina in Storybrooke. The sections will be labeled accordingly. Hope you guys are liking it!**

**This chapter will take place fully in the Enchanted Forest.**

* * *

_Enchanted Forest:_

"I don't understand…" Emma stomped through the forest behind Regina. Sticks broke loudly and leaves rustled underneath her feet.

"What else is there to understand, Miss Swan?" Regina whipped around, her face landing inches away from Emma's. Emma stumbled to an immediate halt. "Everything our son said was right. I'm the Evil Queen. Well, I _was_ the Evil Queen. And now I am again, I suppose." Emma heard the words coming from Regina's mouth sharply, but detected the quivering the lay underneath it, saw the fear flash through her brown eyes. It didn't make sense.

"He was right…" Emma mumbled to herself. She couldn't believe Henry was right this whole time.

"Yes," Regina sighed deeply, "he was right. What I don't understand though, is why we are wearing these dresses, first of all," She flicked her hand and both of their clothes reappeared to their normal dress in Storybrooke. Regina now wore a tailored pants suit and Emma stood in her signature skinny jeans and leather jacket. Emma smirked, Regina could have changed her into anything, but she gave Emma her beloved leather jacket. She wondered if Regina realized she had the opportunity to deprive Emma of it.

Regina thought for a second before additionally conjuring a bow and arrow that slung around her own back. A giant sword appeared on Emma's hip. Emma stood there gaping.

"Sooo… that was magic?"

"Such a quick study" Regina said sarcastically as she snapped back around and continued to stomp through the woods. Emma jogged to catch up, her hand resting on the sword that was now in a sheath strapped around her hip. After a little while Regina stopped walking. She stood still, staring a poster that had been nailed to a tree. Emma moved to stand next to her and read the poster.

"There's a ball? Those are real things?"

"This doesn't make sense. I've been to that ball." Regina jabbed her finger at the poster. She had, in fact, attended this ball. It was when she had been married to Leopold. She remembered because it had been her breaking point. The real point where she had decided she was an irredeemable soul not capable of love.

"But how could you…" Emma trailed off. A flash of grey raced by her vision and was picked up by her peripherals. She jerked around and saw a wolf standing feet away from them. His teeth were bearing, foam collected at his mouth.

Emma drew her sword. The metallic scrape alerted Regina to turn. When she saw the wolf she jerked her hands to put up a defense but merely succeeded in conjuring an apple that flung the wolf's way. She wrinkled her forehead and tried again. Another apple flung his way.

The wolf ignored the whizzing apples and lurched at Regina. Emma jumped in front of Regina and swung her sword across her body. The sharp side grazed into the wolf. He landed a couple feet away from the impact of the sword, but quickly scrambled to get up.

Again, he lurched at Regina who had tripped against a root and now lay in a heap by the tree. Regina looked up and saw the wolf sprinting towards her. His eyes were black as he stared down his prey.

And then everything went black.

* * *

Regina slowly blinked her eyes open, jumbles of color slowly became images. _Not again_. She internally groaned. She couldn't handle the whiplash of waking up in another realm again, although maybe this new one had indoor plumbing. After a couple minutes of readjustment though she realized that she was, in fact, still in the Enchanted Forest. Something on her head stung.

She rolled over on her side and groaned. Her ribs were sore. A couple feet away from her sat a roaring fire, crackling and popping loudly. She frantically glanced around, but was soon met with crunching sounds of breaking sticks. Emma appeared across form the fire holding a pile of firewood in her arms. When she noticed that Regina was awake she dropped the wood and ran over.

"How do you feel?" Emma said worriedly.

"I'm fine. What happened?" Regina struggled to contain a groan when her hand drifted to the side of her face. Something was wrapped around her head.

"The wolf kind of jumped and you and I cut it I think. It ran off but it scratched your head pretty badly. When that wolf ran away another one from it's ran up to us. You were unconscious on the ground and I had no idea what to do. I sat in front of you holding my sword; I didn't know how else to protect you.

When the second wolf launched itself at us I flung out my hands. I thought I could stop it somehow. I mean I couldn't let either of us get eaten by a wolf. When I did, this weird blue stuff came out of my hands and surrounded us in a dome. Nothing could get past it. I-I don't really know what I did."

Emma stared at her hands for second before turning back to Regina. Regina's stared back up at Emma. Her mind was whizzing with thoughts so fast she was surprised Emma couldn't hear it.

_Why would Emma save her? Why would Emma jump in front of her? Emma had magic? How could Emma have enough magic to form a protective barrier, yet she, the Evil Queen, couldn't do more than a quick outfit change and throwing apples? How on earth did Emma know how to make a fire?_

Regina winced. Emma had lifted up the bandage on her head and poured some cool water on it.

"Why are you doing this?" Regina croaked, her throat dry from the hours of sleep. Emma quickly moved the canteen to Regina's mouth and poured some water down her throat. It was so cold and soothing to the fire that burnt at the back of her throat that Regina could cry.

"If you were the Evil Queen, and you really were Evil, inside," Emma motioned to her chest, "I don't think you would have run away the Enchanted Forest, a place where you rule. You would stay here and control everything. Instead you cast a curse to go to a small town in Maine so you could be what? Mayor? That doesn't exactly add up. Plus, you seemed to be pretty spooked by this place, so I'm guessing there's more to the story than our son explained to me."

Regina stared at Emma. That's all she seemed to be doing, staring and gaping. She had most definitely underestimated Emma Swan's capability of reasoning. She had assumed for so long that no one would understand, no one would see beyond the surface of her miserable. So, she never bothered to explain. Yet here Emma was: blonde, beautiful (though she wouldn't dare admit it to herself), and completely understanding of Regina Mills, Evil Queen. Who would of thought?

"Well, I don't need your help." Regina said as she tried to push herself off the ground. _Damn it Regina. She saved your life._ She mentally berated herself. Appreciating someone's understanding and letting them into your life were two different things.

"Well, you kind of did. So I'll take that as a thank you."

"Take it as you wish, dear" Regina attempted to come off sardonically, but the waver in her voice lessened the desired effect.

"Regina, what does magic feel like inside of you?"

"Like… swirling emotion"

"I think I'm filled with it" Emma stared down at her hands, which were glowing a faint blue again. "And I think I know how to work it."

"That's not possible. It takes years to master even the simplest of magic"

"Will you let me try something?" Emma asked Regina. Regina's first instinct was to scoff at Emma's cockiness, but the tenderness whirling around in Emma's eyes, as well as the gash that was stringing on the side of her face made her falter.

"Fine" She whispered after awhile. Emma hovered her hands over Regina's face. Slowly, the open wound began to shrink. The skin seemed to stitch itself back together and the stinging that was persistent in the area began to lessen.

When Emma removed her hands from Regina's face the skin there was smooth again. Regina felt as though no pain had ever been present. She reached her fingers up and grazed the spot where the wound had just been. Nothing was there. Her eyes widened in awe.

"You just healed me."

"I guess so"

"How did you know how to do that?"

"I don't know. I told you, ever since the barrier, it's like I just know what to do."

"Why won't my magic work then?" Regina said, clearly frustrated. Emma shrugged.

"Well, we might as well put yours to use." Regina said as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Why don't you make some beds and tents?" Regina asked. Emma flicked her hands, nothing. She tried again, nothing.

"So you can heal me, but you can't even conjure up a couple tents?" Regina huffed.

"I just figured out I could! Geez Regina, give me a break"

"Well what's different from just minutes ago?"

"There was more swirling before…more emotion. Now, I don't feel it as much."

"And what was this emotion you felt swirling inside of you while leaning over me, dear?" Regina said mockingly. Her voice was laced with a sharpness that stung Emma deeper than she would ever admit.

"You know what? Forget it." Emma stalked over to the other side of the campfire and lay down on the ground. She rolled so her back was facing Regina and huffed defiantly. Regina lay back down as well but remained staring up at the sky. She sighed softly to herself.

_Why did Emma have to be so infuriating? Why was it so difficult for her to just treat Emma kindly? She had literally just saved her life._

The debate on whether it was Emma's annoying nature, or her own cold hearted persona that had led the argument between the women fought viciously in her mind until she finally drifted to sleep.

In the middle of the night, a soft wolf's howl sounded in the distance. Emma sleepily readjusted herself on the ground. A shimmering blue dome began to surround the two women. Emma had conjured it subconsciously during her sleep. It seemed she really was always protecting Regina.

Meanwhile, the blue magic that had seeped into Regina's cut while healing it was traveling through her blood stream, swirling and mixing around in her chest. If someone were to remove her heart in that moment, they would notice a few dark spots lightning, fading away.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"We need to find Rumplestilskin."

"Why?"

"Because I'll bet more than anything that little imp was responsible for this."

"But what are we going to do if we-" Emma felt a small body thud into her own. She reached out and stabilized the little boy who had whipped around the tree and bumped into her.

"Hey Emma!" Roland giggled. Emma and Regina both stared at the little boy.

"Uh…how do you know who I am?"

"What do you mean Emma? Hello Queen Regina." The little boy's cheery tone turned serious when he saw Regina. He bowed slightly.

"Who are you?" Regina asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"I'm Roland. The gardeners son?" He looked uneasy, like he regretted even opening his mouth. He began to turn around and run off but Emma stopped him.

"Wait, Roland right? This is going to sound really strange, but do you think you could tell me how we met and know each other? Queen Regina wants to hear the story" Emma crouched down so she was eye level with Roland. Roland shrugged. He took a deep breath.

"I met you when I was really young and you told me you knew Queen Regina because you watched her boyfriend who was also your brother die outside the stables and then she married King Leopold except for her mother and King Leopold were really mean and always hurt Regina and the only reason that she was mean was because she was so sad and then you found out you were the Lost Princess but you came back for her because you love her and you told me the yesterday that she loved you back and you were going to marry her someday but then my Dad said he saw you jump into a glowing green hole earlier today but you're here so I guess you're okay."

The boy rushed out in one long sentence. He had taken a few breaths along the way, but for the most part the information had constantly streamed out of him. Emma and Regina were speechless. Emma sat down on a log, still without saying anything. Regina absentmindedly sat down next to her, much closer than she would have consciously done. They both sat there trying to absorb the information.

"So…I existed in this world?" Emma asked slowly.

"Yup"

"And Daniel, the stable boy, still died here?" Regina asked just as slowly.

"Yup"

"…and he was Emma's brother?" Regina asked incredulously, her eyebrows rising to her hairline.

"Uh huh"

"And I was a princess?"

"Yeah" Roland's face was scrunching up together now. "Wait are you guys from a different realm or something?"

"How is that so easy for him to understand?" Emma shouted exasperatedly as she pushed up to stand.

"We're in the Enchanted Forest, there's magic here. Things are different." Regina put her hand on Emma's arm, forcing her to sit back down like a child. Regina continued to stare straight ahead.

"Wait, if you guys aren't Emma and Queen Regina, who are you?" Roland asked.

"We're from a town called Storybrooke." Emma explained.

"And you guys are in love there too?" Roland asked innocently.

"What-"

"No way, that's-" The two women began to say at the same time. Why hadn't that been the first thing they had questioned? Instead they had asked about royalty and bloodlines, but the mere fact that Emma in this land had dedicated her life to protecting Regina because she was in love with her had seemed to fly under their radar as nothing to be immediately alarmed about. And perhaps it wasn't.

"We're not even friends" Emma said almost sadly.

"That's… correct, we are not." Regina stumbled to say. She glared at Emma. They were friends…kind of. Regina seemed to think in her head that her and Emma had some sort of friendship in existence. The only reason she prodded and pushed the blonde woman was because she was the only challenge left in Storybrooke, the only person who could make her feel. She thought she understood that. _Guess not._ She thought bitterly to herself.

"You're not?" Roland looked as though he was going to cry. "But Emma told me that you two were each other's true love. That you would be in love in any realm and any universe." Both Emma and Regina recognized the hope and belief that filled Roland's eyes. It was the same kind that filled Henry's. "And you don't even like each other" He finished while looking down at his feet, his shoulders hunched over.

"Well I mean we kind of do." Emma recovered.

"Kind of?" Regina raised her eyebrows at Emma, completely off guard.

"I mean you get on my nerves, but you're independent and strong and you wear really nice clothes."

"Oh, so you think we're friends because I wear nice clothes? If that's all it takes, then I guess I can't say the same about you, dear"

"No, ugh, not what I mean. You're a great Mom to Henry, even if he doesn't appreciate it sometimes, and that makes you strong. Sometime I feel like it's all just a show for everyone, and you really aren't this strict, scary person. And just because I think you're pretty doesn't mean you have a right to make fun of me." Emma crossed her arms; clearly oblivious to the compliment she had just given Regina.

But Regina noticed it and as a result, a blush crept up her neck unknowingly.

"Regina? You don't like Emma though?" Roland's quivering lip continued and his eyes began to get increasingly moist.

"No...that's not entirely true," Regina cursed her soft side for children, "Emma is very brave and," she cringed, "charming." Emma laughed and poked Roland.

"Think that could have pained her anymore to say?" Roland smiled a little at Emma's joking, "She thinks I'm dense, an idiot, and trashy. Sorry, that's all you're gong to get out of her." Emma said with a sad chuckle. She was trying to show Roland everything was okay, but was having a hard time convincing herself.

"That's not true." Regina whispered almost inaudibly

"Isn't it though?" Emma answered, the sad smile left over as a remnant from her chuckle.

"No." Regina whispered again. She looked down at her hands, which were wringing together. "You are brave and charming. You're also beautiful and kind. Plus, I've heard you defend me in front of Henry and that means a lot."

"You really think I'm beautiful?" Emma asked incredulously.

"That's what you got out of that?" Regina asked with her eyebrow raised. A small smirk played on her lips. Emma turned back to Roland.

"See Roland? Nothing to worry about." Emma said with a convincing smile.

"Okay!" The boy seemed unusually cheery considering that a moment ago, he was teetering on the cliff of a catatonic meltdown. "I have to go find my Dad, bye!" Roland jogged away from the sitting woman, a giant smile plastered across his face. _Easy as cake_. He giggled to himself.

"Thanks for doing that." Emma said as soon as Roland had run off.

"Doing what?" Regina asked.

"You know, pretending you liked me. I think the kid was trying to play matchmaker or something."

"Oh," Regina's stomach dropped. So they had just been putting on a show. A show she had no idea was occurring. "Of course" She snapped. She hated herself then. How could she think that Emma Swan could think any of those things about her? Stupid. "You too" She muttered as she stood up abruptly from the log.

"Me too?"

"Thanks. For pretending you liked me" Regina said.

"Oh... no I actually feel like that." Emma said with a shrug as she continued to walk ahead in the direction they had originally been going before Roland had showed up. Regina watched Emma advance further and further into the woods but her feet seemed to be glued to the floor. Her heart was racing. _Emma liked her?_

"You coming?" Emma shouted from the trail.

"Yeah," Regina croaked out as she forced her feet to move.


	13. Storybrooke Day

**A/N: This chapter is all about getting those answers! Enjoy!**

**This chapter will take place entirely in Storybrooke.**

* * *

_Storybrooke:_

Henry stirred in his bed from the rays of sunshine that leaked through his window. He popped his eyes opened and literally jumped out of bed. He glanced at the clock. _8:00. _Sprinting to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and changed out of his pajamas as fast as he possibly could. He hadn't fully gotten his arm into one sleeve of his t-shirt when he was stumbling out of his room.

He raced down the hall and stopped abruptly, inches away from a closed door. His knuckles rapped on the door slowly; completely uncharacteristic of the hectic and excited state he was currently in.

"Come in" he heard muffled from behind the door. He turned the knob in one swift motion and swung it open. From all his morning exertion, his breath was uneven and sporadic. He put his hands on his knees and grinned at the sight before him. Emma and Regina were curled up in the giant bed of Regina's room.

Their arms and legs were tangled together, their hair mussed. Sleepy grins covered both of their faces. Regina was resting in the crook of Emma's arm, which snaked behind her back. Emma's fingers ran slowly through the strands of Regina's hair.

"Hey Henry" Emma grinned. The boy's excitement was infectious.

"Are you guys ready?" Henry jumped up and down on his feet and launched himself onto the foot of the bed. He landed on his stomach with a soft thud.

Henry had dubbed this day Storybrooke Day. He was one hundred and ten percent committed to showing the two women anything and everything fun there was to do in the town.

"We just have to get ready Henry. Give us…30 minutes?" Regina spoke with a sly grin on her face. She had just discovered digital clocks and was trying to impress Henry with her knowledgeable lingo. He nodded so hard his freshly combed hair tousled on his head. He tumbled off the bed and ran out, shutting the door behind him.

"I think a tornado just came and left our room" Emma said as she laughed. They had only known the boy several days now, but he was already worming his way into their heart.

"Are you sure it's okay I took off from work? I mean I have no idea how important the Mayor job is? And what if it's really bad that Henry skipped school?" Regina worried in true motherly form.

"It's only one day. Plus, you're the mayor, you make the rules." Emma winked at Regina. They had spent their past days following Henry who was committed to teaching them of the ways of this land. They had also spent a tremendous amount of time searching for magic to no avail. This was the first day they were going to slow down and enjoy the town for what it was.

"Okay, darling. But…I don't want to get out of this bed…" Regina groaned as she snuggled closer into Emma.

"Right? These are the softest sheets I've ever felt. I wonder what they're made out of?" Emma said as she inspected the Egyptian cotton high threat sheets.

"Too bad we promised Henry, so get your butt moving!" Emma pulled her arms tight around her body, grabbing Regina with her. She rolled over and hoisted Regina on top of her. Regina screamed playfully and jumped off of Emma to avoid the inevitable tickling that was coming next.

Regina was brushing teeth when she noticed Emma was still sitting on the bed, her face resting in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

"What are we going to tell Henry?" Emma looked up at Regina, her face creased with worry.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we have a movie of his mothers' lives in our head…and they're very similar to our own. Up to a point at least." Emma sighed. They had been comparing stories that they had received during their kiss days ago of the two women. It seemed like Evil Queen had lived the life of the Regina, but without Emma.

Meanwhile, all Emma could determine about Emma Swan was that she had lived in this realm her whole life. There were strange similarities in Emma Swan's life that Emma couldn't understand; things she did, the way she did them, it reminded Emma of herself too closely to just accept that Emma Swan was a separate person.

"We have to find Rumplestilskin," Regina sighed, "But in the mean time…we could help Henry understand."

"Like by telling him their stories? I think he knows them"

"I doubt he really knows the whole story"

"If we tell him everything, then he'll understand. I don't know how, but he just will."

"So that when his moms come back, they can start over. Just like we are." Emma smiled.

"Yes, exactly." Regina smiled back.

* * *

"Okay, first we're going to have to teach you how to drive." Henry said as he pulled the women out to the garage. Both Emma and Regina stared at the black car that was parked.

"What's this thing made out of?" Emma turned her body, leaning sideways so she could get a better look at the exterior.

"Is this a carriage?" Regina rapped the car with her knuckles. Henry laughed at Regina. If his mom knew her alternate universe version was tapping on her detailed car, she would most likely spiral into a vortex of rage.

"Kind of." Henry finally said. He clicked the keys and the car unlocked. He opened a door and pointed in toward the seat motioning for Regina to slide in. Regina stared at the seat but hesitantly climbed in. Henry ushered Emma to the other side and then scooted into the middle of the backseat, leaning forward between the two women.

"Okay take that thing by your shoulder, pull it, and push it into the other black thing by your hip." Henry helped Emma strap her seatbelt on.

"What in the world are these things?" Emma asked.

"Seatbelts, for safety." Henry said. Regina followed suit even though her face reflected complete confusion.

"Now twist the key and then just drive." Henry exclaimed.

"What do you mean just drive?" Regina cried. She had no idea what any of these buttons or lights did.

"Well, I'm only a kid. I don't exactly know how to drive." Henry shrugged. Emma and Regina looked at each other and chuckled.

"Maybe we should just stick to walking for today." Emma offered.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Henry said as he leaned over and unbuckled the women's seatbelts. When they had assembled in front of the house Henry pulled out a bulleted list from his pocket. On the top was written Storybrooke Day in huge letters.

"Let's start at the top."

_1. Go to the comic store._

Emma turned out to be a huge fan of comics and Regina had to drag the blonde haired woman and the little boy out of the store by their sleeves. It took them twenty minutes to stop debating on whether Batman or Superman could win in a battle. Henry won.

2. _Buy food at the grocery store. _

Regina picked up each and every vegetable and examined it. She couldn't believe what a huge garden the store must have to produce all of these. She screamed and hid in Emma's arms when the mini sprinklers turned on to mist the vegetables. She made them stand and stare at the vegetables for ten more minutes to see the sprinklers go on again for round two.

3. _Get Pie at Granny's._

Regina suggested they get it to go. She said that Ruby's perfume gave her a headache. Emma and Henry gave each other a knowing look. The pie was so delicious though and Regina pushed Emma to head back into the diner to get them all seconds.

4. _Go see a movie_.

They went to see Snow White. The old movie theater in Storybrooke didn't really play many new movies and Henry thought it'd be funny. Emma and Regina spent the whole time gaping at the moving pictures and heckling Snow White. Regina threw pieces of popcorn at huge screen when Snow started singing. Henry didn't get it, the two women could transport and fling magic around, but a movie threw them into an existential crisis.

5. _Go to the beach._

Henry knew the beach wasn't something particularly special to this land, but thought it was a nice place in Storybrooke anyway. They walked upon and down the sandy dunes. Emma picked Henry up and put him on her shoulders as she skipped through the shallow surf. Regina made sure Henry put on his coat so he didn't get cold.

6. _Visit the castle_.

The trio ended their day sitting on the playground that Henry often occupied. They all sat on the stripped wooden deck and hung their feet off the side. Henry sat in between the two women who leaned back, their hands resting on top of each other's behind the boy. They had followed strict orders to contain their affection for one another during the day; now that they were alone they couldn't resist the magnetic force that drew them together.

"Henry, we have something to tell you" Regina began. Henry looked up into Regina's eyes.

"What?"

"We kind of saw… your moms' lives flash before our eyes. Kind of." Emma tried. It was difficult to explain. They had seen what they assumed to be Henry's moms, but it was strange because they looked exactly like themselves.

"You did?" Henry's asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah." Emma nodded.

"Henry, we think you might not know the full story of who your moms really are." Regina said carefully. She didn't want Henry to go on another of his Evil Queen rants again.

"Are you going to tell me she wasn't the Evil Queen too?" He asked. His shoulders slumped and his face became instantly defeated.

"No…uh she definitely was. But did you ever wonder why she became the Evil Queen?" asked Emma.

"No…" Henry looked up, seemingly trying to filter through his brain for the reason why he'd never asked that. "Why was she?"

"Well," Regina started, "It all began with a stable boy."

After Regina had completed the tale of Henry's mom, Henry stared ahead. He had only asked a few necessary questions throughout the story, but mostly he had just listened.

Silence filled the air as the two women waited. Soft sobs racked Henry's body. Upon hearing the sniffles and uneven breathing Emma and Regina had scooted closer to Henry and threw their arms around him.

"I didn't know," He said breathlessly between sobs, "I was so mean and I didn't know."

"Oh Henry, I'm sure she will forgive you. I can tell she loves you. In fact, I'm positive she does." Regina said firmly.

"She loves you Henry. Her past just made it hard for her to show it." Emma said softly, her voice smooth and calming.

"I miss them" Henry continued to cry.

"I know, I know." Regina pressed a kiss onto the top of Henry's head.

"Let's go home " Emma said as she jumped off the playground. She lifted Henry down and did the same to Regina. Regina pressed a light kiss to Emma's check. Their hearts both ached for the little boy.

The three walked back to the mansion where Henry, exhausted from crying, curled up in his bed and immediately fell asleep. Emma covered him with his blanket and clicked his bedroom door shut softly behind her. Regina stood leaning against the hallway wall opposite the door.

"We need to get them back here."

"I know." Emma sighed deeply. "I think I'm going to go walk around town, see if I can sense any magic." She needed to clear her head and felt completely unproductive just standing and wishing they knew a way to get home.

"I'll stay and look around the house for any spell books. Just…be careful," Regina warned.

"Always," Emma said and kissed Regina chastely.

* * *

Emma wandered the streets of Storybrooke. The sky was dim since the sun had just set. She rounded the corner into the main part of town when she saw a small man hobbling down the street. He leaned on a cane, but moved with brilliant speed. Within a few seconds, he had vanished around a corner. For whatever reason, Emma quickened her pace.

She rounded the same corner and found the man entering a store. Mr. Gold's Pawnshop. She wondered why this hadn't been on Henry's list to do. She made her way over to the storefront and opened the door. A bell jingled at her entrance. The man on the cane was standing in the back of the store, his back to Emma. At the sound of the bell he pivoted around.

"Rumplestilskin" Emma growled.

"Ah, Emma. What can I do for you?" Rumplestilskin asked with a sly grin on his face. His skin had been stripped of its silvery tinge and his eyes seemed less maniacal.

"Cut the crap, Rumple. Tell me what you did." Emma advanced quickly. She slammed her hands on the countertop that separated the two.

"Now why, Emma, would I do that freely? You know very well there's always a price."

"What do you want?"

"What I want is of none of your concern, yet." Rumplestilskin said, his normally mocking and joyous tone in his voice had faded though.

"What if we make a deal?" Emma offered.

"Now you're talking" Rumplestilskin's attention was now fully on Emma.

"I want answers." Emma demanded.

"And I want you" Rumplestilskin said.

"What?"

"I want this realm's version of you...and Regina too."

"Why would you want them?"

"You see dearie, I didn't just jump in that hole with you for a nice ride. When you fell disgustingly in love with Regina in the Enchanted Forest you destroyed a very lengthy plan I had created."

"The prophecy" Emma said. It was the reason that she had been kidnapped as a child, away from her castle, it was the reason she had become the lost princess, because there was a prophecy that said she would destroy an all-encompassing storm.

"Yes, you lived up to those expectations at least." Rumplestilskin grumbled, "The prophetic storm you had stopped was Regina. Without you in her life, Regina would have become the Evil Queen, you see.

"My Regina?"

"Yes, yes. Your Regina, this Regina. They are two pieces of one person."

"I don't understand." Emma said exasperatedly. Rumplestilskin huffed in annoyance.

"You changed Regina's life. You stopped her from becoming the Evil Queen and enacting a curse that would have created Storybrooke. I needed that curse. It was how I was going to find my son." Rumplestilskin was yelling now. His mind was frayed from the frustration of failed plan after failed plan. And now he was turning to Emma for help. Talk about rock bottom.

"When you used that magic bean, you did indeed create a portal to a new land. Not this one originally, but when I jumped in there with you, let's just say I made things a little more interesting. I had intended to use the portal to erase you from Regina's life. I was going to discontinue your existence from ever happening," Emma's face was turning shades of red now. Fury was boiling in her blood.

"Oh calm down. You're here aren't you?" Rumplestilskin motioned to where Emma was standing, "The only problem was that your magic mixed with mine in the portal. Instead of erasing your existence from Regina we split the realm into two. One that you and Regina knew as your home, the one you just left from. And one, where you had never existed, where Regina had gone through her life became the Evil Queen. That one is currently destroyed by the curse right now because Regina created this lovely town. Two realms, two versions of each person. "

"You're telling me we spit an entire realm, and all the people in it?" Emma asked incredulously.

"What can I say dearie? You take the two most powerful magical beings in the universe, throw them in a magical epicenter and that's what happens."

"Say I believe this story. This is what you wanted isn't it? Why would you want to make a deal?"

"I need the Storybrooke Emma and Regina to be here," Rumplestilskin punctuated his finger into the counter, " that Emma needs to break the curse. That Emma is the savior. Then, I can bring magic to this land and find my son. You and doe eyed Regina are useless to me here. You don't fit in the plan, yet you don't alter the plan. So the curse is in a stalemate." Emma paced the length of the counter, thinking deeply.

"If Emma and Regina come back here, will they be harmed?"

"I don't care about them. I just need to find my son." Rumplestilskin huffed out.

"I'll do it."

"Of course you will. We just made a deal. Answers for the two." Again, Emma didn't respond right away.

"But I have conditions" She said. Rumplestilskin shot her a death glare.

"And what could these be?"

"When we get them here and when my Regina and I leave, we don't go back to the Enchanted Forest. We go somewhere else. Somewhere nice. You tell me how to control what realm we go to next.. And this town's Regina and Emma don't get hurt" Emma added when she saw Rumplestilskin's mischievous grin. He quickly responded.

"Deal."

"Now, what do we have to do?"

* * *

**Hopefully things are starting to make sense! What'd you guys think?**


	14. For Henry

**A/N: Who doesn't love some good sexual tension, magic, and fluff?**

**This chapter takes place entirely in the Enchanted Forest.**

* * *

_Enchanted Forest:_

"Emma. Get down from there." Regina barked. Emma was in the midst of climbing a giant tree. The blonde and brunette had wondered the woods aimlessly for days now and Emma was beginning to get more than a little fed up.

"Maybe if you told me where we were going then I wouldn't have to take matters into my own hands."

"I told you. I want to get to the peak of that mountain over there so I can figure out where we are" Regina was fuming at Emma's impatience and stupidity.

"You said you knew where we were" Emma whined. It was true. Regina had stormed through the forest as though she had an exact agenda they needed to follow. It took Emma a few days to realize that she not only had no idea where they were going, she had no idea how to get them back to Storybrooke.

"Okay, _Miss Swan_, maybe I don't know exactly where we are going, but I figure that mountain over there will provide us with some answers to our whereabouts. If you have any better ideas I'm all ears…though I doubt you do." Regina huffed out and stomped away from the tree.

"No, you don't get to just yell at me like I'm stupid when you're the one who had us walking in circles forever. That mountain is days, maybe weeks away" Emma jumped down from the tree and cushioned her impact by expertly bending her knees into a squatting position. She caught up to a storming Regina and grabbed her by the wrist.

"You want to go to the peak, we'll go to the peak." Emma yelled as she tightened her grip and turned toward the mountainous land. Her left foot stretched out to take an angry step forward when they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. They reappeared seconds later on top of said peak.

"Do _not_ touch me," Regina said as she ripped her wrist away from Emma. She hadn't realized they had even transported. Emma's jaw dropped open as she took in her surroundings. Regina was too busy getting her daily fill of rage and still hadn't noticed where they were.

"I don't know where you get off thinking you can just-"

"Regina."

"After all this you still have to nerve to interr-"

"Regina!"

"What!" Regina roared.

"Look." Emma lifted her arm and pointed her forefinger outward. It was then that Regina realized that they were standing on a fifty by fifty foot peak of the mountain. In front of them was a valley that covered hundreds of miles.

At the shock of suddenly realizing where they were, Regina unconsciously took a step forward. She looked down, the sides weren't exactly vertical, but it would have been a challenge to get up here. She teetered over the side farther to try to get a better look of a leveled out section on the side of the mountain. It looked like the entrance to a cave. She leaned on her toes just a little more. The rock that Regina stood on suddenly slipped out form beneath her foot and her balance was offset.

Her feet fell from from under her and she began to tumble down into the air. When Emma noticed Regina's swaying form she had leaped off the cliff after her rapidly disappearing form. Emma encompassed the rigid Regina in the air with her arms and the two transported to safety. They landed on the flat rock, the entrance to the cave, that Regina saw moments before. Regina hadn't said a word the entire time, not even a scream, her body had been shocked into tense silence.

"Are you okay?" Emma cried breathlessly and she turned Regina's form around in her body. Regina's face was full of horror that had just occurred.

"I could have lost Henry," she said as though she had just seen a ghost, " I could have died."

"But you didn't, you're fine. See?" Emma turned over Regina's hands and tipped her face to either side with her fingers on her chin to make sure she had no scraps, "Nothing, you're okay." Emma said in an effort to calm Regina down.

"We don't even know if Henry's okay right now." Regina said as her lip quivered. Up until this day the women had dutifully ignored the fact that their son was now in Storybrooke, assumedly alone.

"He probably thinks I ran." Emma murmured.

"No, he probably thinks I ripped your heart out" Regina replied bitterly, "I wouldn't put it past myself."

"You wouldn't do that." Emma said confidently.

"What makes you so sure? I'm just as evil as he says." Regina snarled, "So, stop saving me, Emma. I'm not worth it."

"You're not."

"I'm not what? Worth it? Glad you agree."

"Evil."

"I destroyed villages to pass the time. I poisoned Snow White. I cast a curse on an entire realm"

"Yeah…which is pretty awful. But you wouldn't do that now."

"And how do you know that?"

"Beacause I know you." Emma said convincingly. Regina snorted.

"You can't possibly believe that."

"I do. But yet again I might just be saying that because I'm trapped alone in the woods with the Evil Queen. Can't help to get on her good side right?" Emma said with a wink. It took Regina a second to realize that Emma was joking. She had been on the defense her whole life and this whole kind of friendship thing, was going to take some getting used to.

"Right," Regina said slowly, a barely there smirk playing on her face. Regina ran her hands through her hair.

In that single moment Emma realized two things: first, that the Evil Queen might be the closest thing she had to a friend right now and second, that Regina, in all her damaged glory, was one of the most beautiful people she had ever set her eyes on. She was a complete bitch most of the time, but she definitely had her moments.

"I guess your magic really is a product of true love." Regina said as she looked at the blue swirling that had taken place at Emma's hands again.

"True love?"

"Yeah, I can sense it. All magic has a feeling to it. Yours feels like true love's magic. It's the most powerful kind, which explains why it comes naturally to you."

At first Emma was pleased at the prospect that she had the most powerful magic swirling at the base of her palms, but as she began to work think and remember what Henry told her, her face paled.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked quickly.

"Um…I think I know something we can do to get out of here."

"What is it?"

"Well… I 'm not really sure if it will… I mean I don't-"

"Oh just spit it out, Emma."

"You called Emma" Emma said. Regina did it so sporadically that she felt the need to point it out every time it happened. She smiled so brilliantly it caught Regina off guard for a second.

"I do that on occasion you know. Now to the point please" Regina attempted to say sharply, but found herself wondering if Emma's eyes had always been that green. _God, what was happening to her?_

"I think that we should kiss." Emma blurted suddenly.

"Wha-" Regina's mouth formed an 'O' shape as her eyebrows cinched together in surprise. Emma waited for Regina to collect herself.

"Why do-" Regina tried again, but shut her mouth when all she could get out was stammering. She was not at all going to pay attention to why her heart was beating out of her chest. Nor was she going to pay attention that her stomach seemed to flop at the thought of kissing Emma. And she was most definitely not going to pay attention to the fact that her eyes had already flicked down to Emma's lips enough the past couple of days to know that they looked impossibly smooth. She realized how long she had been drifting off in her thoughts and snapped back to reality.

"What made you think that I would ever want to kiss you of all people?" Regina barked. _That was not at all even close to anything I wanted to say. _Regina imagined hitting her head on the nearest tree over and over. She infuriated herself sometimes.

"No, I know you don't _want_ to kiss me. But you said that my magic was true love's magic, or whatever," Emma shrugged shyly, "and Henry told me that true love's kiss breaks any curse. So maybe, ya know, if this is a curse a kiss will break it."

"You think-" Regina stuttered.

"I'm not saying you're my true love or anything, I'm just saying maybe my magic made from true love will make up for that detail" Emma rushed out. It actually made logical sense to Regina. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was the first realistic plan they had come up with.

"It's worth a shot," Regina huffed out. She was completely and irrevocably split over her feelings of this upcoming kiss. One feeling was certain to be there though, fear. Regina hadn't kissed anyone in decades except for Graham, and even that had been so lackluster and void of feeling that Regina could barely even count it.

What made Regina scared the most was how she might feel during it. She had denied the feelings that bombarded her during their time in the Enchanted Forest. She has suppressed them, blamed them on the fact that they were stuck together, alone in the forest, but a kiss would definitely force them back to the forefront of her couldn't do it.

She couldn't begin the never-ending train of feelings that would follow it. She needed to get back to Henry though and that was her top priority. She would make out with Emma for hours, she decided, if it meant getting back to her son.

"Um..." Emma scooted backwards when she realized that Regina was still practically sitting on her lap from their jumbled up transportation. She ran her fingers through her own blonde ringlets, her biceps flexing with the movement.

"So, are we going to do this right now?" Emma asked awkwardly. Regina chewed at her bottom lip nervously. The act caught Emma's attention and her eyes flicked down to Regina's lips.

"Yes, I suppose we should. Just try to make sure that your magic is ready."

"Bossy even when it comes to a kiss." Emma mumbled. She stood up on the ledge that her and Regina still resided on. Somehow kissing sitting down seemed more intimate to her, something she was positive Regina did not want.

"Do you, or do you not want to get back to our son?" Regina yelled, clambering to stand up with Emma. She couldn't bear the thought of arguing when Emma was standing over her.

"Of course I do!" Emma shouted back, frustrated at Regina's quick temper.

"Well if the thought of kissing me is so awful that you'd rather stay-" Regina's rant was cut off by Emma's lips on her own. The kiss was needy and all consuming. It made both women's heads feel light. Regina's hands latched onto Emma's hips and pulled her into her. Emma's one hand was tangled in Regina's hair, the other one settled on her lower back. Both women pulled the other to them, trying to make their bodies closer than they already were.

All of the pent up frustration between the two seemed to working itself out in the kiss, the kiss that was quickly turning into many kisses. After a minute, the Regina seemed to realize that their strictly business arrangement had spiraled out of control and then some. She pulled back slightly; her face still mere centimeters away form Emma's. Both women breathed unevenly, their eyes glued on the others' lips.

"We're still here" Emma staggered, her voice was quiet and breathy.

"Maybe your magic wasn't ready" Regina offered. Emma knew full and well her magic was ready. It was whipping inside of her like a hurricane.

"Maybe," Emma whispered nonetheless, her head already tipping slightly.

"We should probably try again," Regina murmured into Emma's lips, "for Henry" she added.

"For Henry" Emma agreed as she closed the barely nonexistent gap. The second kiss held a world of difference from the first. Where the first kiss was rushed, this one was patient. It was slow. It was understanding. And damn if it didn't scare the hell out of both women. Passion they could understand. Rough, they could definitely knew. But tenderness, now that was something that was completely unexpected.

As Emma tipped her head to deepen the kiss, she untangled her hand from Regina's hair, and brushed her thumb across Regina's olive skinned cheek. Regina whimpered into Emma's mouth.

Emma would have thought she would see a pig fly before the day she heard Regina Mills whimper. Yet, here she was and she would be lying if she said it didn't turn her on. All at once, the women, just as their counterparts had, saw a series of flashes from the lives of the Regina and Emma that had lived in this land. Emma jerked back suddenly.

"Did you just-?" Regina asked

"Yeah, I saw them. Or us. I think it's us. But not." Emma stuttered.

"Despite the lack of eloquence, I know what you mean. We aren't under a curse, we're in a split realm" Regina concluded.

"What? How do you know that?"

"I had thought about it as an alternative instead of the curse. It allows you to split your identity into two. But I wasn't powerful enough and that would mean half of me would still be here…" Regina trailed off, not wanting to explain right now.

"But the other me did this?" Emma recalled from the flashbacks.

"I think Rumplestilskin did, he just used your magic as a sort of…boost."

"What do we do then?"

"We need a way to communicate to the other realm. We need to figuratively glue the split realms back together."

"What will that do to the past, or the future?" Emma asked nervously. She knew little to nothing about magic, but they had to be messing up time-space continuum here by duplicating identities.

"I have no idea" Regina was back to worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. The pause in conversation allowed both woman to remember just moments before they had been making out against the side of a cave. Their eyes flicked up at one another and then darted away after meeting each other's gaze.

"Wait, in the movie Snow White-" Emma began

"I'm going to stop you right there."

"No, listen. In the movie the Evil Queen used a magic mirror." Emma said as her face filled with hope. Regina paused.

"Two decent ideas in one day, this must be a record" Regina said, a statement like this would have normally been laced with sarcasm, but Regina's tone was light and surprisingly complimentary.

"So you have one of those?" Emma said as she mentally patted herself on the back for her brilliant, not just decent like Regina had said, ideas.

"Not right now, but I know where we can find one." Regina replied, a smile growing on her face. She turned as if ready to travel towards her new destination and then realized that they were still suspended on a ledge.

Regina shot a look towards Emma as if to say 'Help me get down from here?' Emma understood. _Since when did I understand Regina's looks?_ Emma thought to herself. She took a step towards the brunette woman and held out her hand, palm up. Regina eyed it suspiciously.

"Grab on" Emma encouraged. Regina slowly put her hand in Emma's. Their fingers interlaced, and less than a second later all that was left on the ledge was a wisp of pale blue smoke.

* * *

** I think they're pretty adorable, but yet again, I'm biased. **


	15. Protective by Nature

**A/N: We're almost there guys! ****Gahh writing these next couple chapters has been pretty great for me. I can't wait you all to see this play out. **This will be the first split chapter in terms of location. 

* * *

_Storybrooke: _

Emma took a deep breath as she began telling Regina what she found out from Rumplestilskin. Regina kneeled behind her on the bed and massaged the stress out of her shoulders while she listened.

"So did he tell you what we have to do?" Regina asked, her hands still kneading into Emma's back.

"Yeah," Emma sighed, "Storybrooke Regina has a tomb, he said. That's she keeps what's left of her magic."

"And does he have any idea what we need to use to get them back here?"

"There's a magic mirror, it can cross realms when the right magic is produced on either side."

"So we just have to find the mirror?"

"No…it's not as easy as it sounds. Unfortunately, we can't put the realms back together unless the four of us are there and we all walk into the mirror together. But even then it's not a sure bet. He still isn't exactly sure what could happen when we do."

"So…he wants us to walk into a magical mirror and hope for the best that we still exist when we walk out?" Regina asked incredulously. Emma shrugged, her shoulders rising and falling heavily.

"It's our only shot."

"I know. We have to" Regina replied. Emma pushed off her knees and forced herself to stand up. Regina released her hands from Emma's back.

"We should go wake up Henry. I figure we find the mirror and basically just hang out by it until the other Regina and Emma show up."

"That could take forever, Emma. We have no idea if they even know what's going on"

"Oh come on, they're versions of us. I figure they're pretty smart" Emma encouraged halfheartedly. Regina attempted a chuckle, but was weighed down by the immense stress that surrounded the situation.

"We should plan to be there for the night at least. I'll go pack food and blankets. Such a shame we have to spend the night in the tomb when this huge bed is calling our name." Regina said before she kissed Emma on the cheek and gave her arm an encouraging squeeze.

Emma went into the hallway and stopped at Henry's door. She knew this was their only chance to find the other women, but she was also very aware that it was a very slim and narrow chance. The women could be anywhere in the Enchanted Forest. Anywhere.

She sucked in a sharp breath to calm the nerves in her stomach and opened the door. When she saw Henry's curled up form all tangled in his blankets, her heart clenched. She was going to miss the young boy. She pushed all nostalgic feelings aside and sat down on the edge of the bed. She rubbed his back in circles.

"Henry, wake up" She hushed. He peeked his head out form the blankets and blinked rapidly, trying to get his bearings on the situation.

"What's happening?" He asked sleepily. He rubbed his fists into his eyes.

"We think we might have found a way to find your moms."

"Really?" His eyes immediately opened wide and he sat up.

"Yeah, but it's a long shot. Come on, get some warm clothes on and I'll tell you on the way there"

"Okay" Henry got up and grabbed sweatpants and a sweatshirt from his closet before following Emma out of his room. The weather was still mild from the summer, but Emma had no idea what to expect from this tomb they were traveling to. She'd opted to overdress rather than to make several trips back and forth.

When she and Henry reached the bottom of the stairs Regina had two duffel bags sitting at the front door. Emma slung two around her chest, Regina grabbed a cooler of food she had thrown together, and they started off towards the cemetery.

Following the directions Rumplestilskin had given her; they stood at the entrance of the large constructed tomb. Emma took a wrench that was sitting in the cemetery groundkeeper's shed and slammed it on the lock that held the door shut. After her fourth swing, the lock broke. She pushed open the heavy door with all her weight. Henry slammed his body into the door to help it open. Inside, the tomb was looked like a stone fortress. In a very empty and cold looking room there was a raised coffin.

"Are you sure this is it?" Regina asked uneasily. All the walls were slabs of concrete looking material. Besides the coffin, there was nothing else in the small room.

"That's what Rumplestilskin said," Emma said as she circled the coffin, inspecting it closely. She put her two hands on the side and leaned on it, her head hanging between her arms in frustration. She had meant for it to be a resting position, but her weight displaced on the coffin caused it to shift in the ground revealing a sliver of space underneath it.

"What's that?" Henry cried as he saw the coffin move. Emma saw what she had done and shoved the coffin some more. A staircase that led down into a lower room was revealed. Emma looked up at the other two cautiously as she made her way down the staircase. The only light in the lower level was the ray that infiltrated through the staircase from the upper level. Emma saw a string dangling and pulled it, a light switched on and illuminated the room.

The lower level was much larger than the top one and was filled with various objects. The walls held several bookshelves, small chests, drawers, and in the corner of the room stood a large object covered with a dusty sheet. Regina let go of Henry's hand, which she had been holding and made her way over the object. In one swift motion she whipped the sheet to the ground to reveal a large oval mirror.

"Emma…" Regina called over her shoulder.

"You found it," Emma exclaimed as she made her way over to where Regina was standing.

"This is the magic mirror?" Henry asked.

"This is it. I can sense the magic around it," Emma answered as she began to closely inspect the glass making up the mirror, "Can you feel it?" She asked Regina.

Regina nodded uneasily. The power emitted from the mirror was powerful to say the least. Henry hid behind Regina, unsure of what was about to happen. Emma leaned over until her face was inches away from the adorned mirror. She held out her forefinger shakily and tapped the glass once. Upon contact, the seemingly hard surface rippled like water.

"Woah…" Henry said. Emma stood back and watched as the ripples spread from the point where her finger had made contact throughout the entire surface. The mirror now gleamed the telling blue of Emma's magic. The reflection of the trio began to dim and instead, the view of a dark room began to come into view. The room had stone walls, a wooden floor, and there were various objects overturned or covered by large white sheets. Light filtered in from a nearby window. Cobwebs and dust settled on every surface.

"It looks like some kind of attic." Emma said. Upon inspection, Regina's face drooped.

"I know where this is," She pushed out weakly.

"Where?" Emma and Henry asked at the same time.

"Leopold's castle" Regina paled. Emma raised her eyebrows and she began to bite the inside of her lower lip. Her forehead scrunched up.

"Oh no."

"Oh, yes." Regina replied as she and Emma both shared a look. From what they knew about Storybrooke Regina, the last place she would be going was to the castle her ex-husband, who she thought she had killed, currently resided. It didn't help that the moment before they had left the Enchanted Forest, he was on a murder rampage with Emma as his number one priority.

"But if this is where my mom used to live, don't you think that she would know the mirror was here?" Henry said. Regina thought about it for a second.

"That's a pretty good point Henry." Regina probably did know that the magic mirror was located here. The only issue would be if she knew that she had to use it to get back to Storybrooke.

* * *

_Enchanted Forest:_

"That's where you used to live?" Emma asked incredulously. She and Regina had transported their several days' walk in the forest in a matter of seconds. They now stood where they had started, under the apple tree, on the side of Leopold's castle.

"It's not as glamorous as it sounds"

"It doesn't look glamorous at all. Did you even have indoor plumping?" Emma asked as she continued to stare up at the dimly lit castle. The sun had completely set by now and they could only see with the aid of the moonlight. Regina shot her a sharp look, but Emma only laughed. She put her hands up above her head defensively, "Hey, it's important to me."

"Focus. We need to get to that room over there" Regina pointed to, of course, the highest room in the castle. It was also the least accessible. Unlike other portions of the castle there was no balcony or wrap around walkways. Only steep, flat walls. Emma gazed at the tower of the castle as her arm closest to Regina extended out.

She hooked her arm through Regina's arm, which was placed on her hip, and pressed into the small of her back. With quick pressure she pulled Regina in towards her body. Regina made a small sound of surprise as her body became flush to Emma's. Once their bodies were pressed together, nothing happened.

"Is there a point to this?" Regina stood uncomfortably, still encased on Emma's arm.

"I tried to transport there, but it won't let me."

"It won't let you?"

"It blocked me, stopped my magic. I don't know" Emma replied. Regina let out a small, impatient huff.

"It must be the mirror." Regina began to step away her current position impossibly close to Emma.

"Wait," Emma pulled again on her back, and this time once the two were pressed against each other, they disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

Regina looked around after landing and realized that Emma had transported them to the balcony that was covered with dead and decaying apple trees.

"It was the closest I could get us," Emma offered. Regina nodded and turned to look sadly at the trees. She gazed at a fallen apple that was beginning to rot.

"I should have known he would never continue to let me take care of these trees," She snarled.

"Hey, you have the one I gave you." Emma offered. Regina raised her eyebrows at Emma.

"You didn't give me anything. That was the other Emma. The other Emma that the other me is apparently head over heels in love with." Regina sighed sadly.

Upon receiving the flashbacks she had felt a vicious pang of jealousy. This realm's version of her had it all figured out. She knew that that Regina and Emma loved each other with every ounce of their souls. And here she was, tortured, broken, and unable to maintain a mere friendship with the woman who she was unwillingly falling for. In the other lifetime, love really had been strength to Regina. But in her own it was, and would remain a weakness. Her lips pursed bitterly.

"I mean I would have gotten you an apple tree now if I could." Emma grumbled. Her view of the prickly woman in front of her had seemingly changed drastically in their time in the Enchanted Forest. Emma realized she had never really understood Regina Mills.

She had thought she was brash. But her brashness was attributed to the sky-high walls she constructed around herself. She has thought was was aggressive. But her protective nature was no different from Emma's, she just protected her own with barred teeth. Emma released a puff of air she didn't realize she was holding.

They were making only problem was once they went back to Storybrooke everything would most likely go back to normal. Regina would be back in her element and build up every single wall Emma had worked so hard to tear down.

"Come on" Regina called. She had walked away from the apple trees and broke Emma's train of thought. Emma followed.

The interior of the castle was lit with scattered torches and chandeliers. The two women strolled through the rooms, Emma trailing on Regina's heels. It wasn't until they heard a crash that they were snapped out of their casual saunter. Regina jumped behind a huge column that stood on the side of the long hall. She pulled Emma by the shirt to hide behind it as well.

"The Lost Princess…is lost again. Good. I hope she's never found. But I will find my Queen. And once I do, she will pay." A man's voice slurred heavily. Another crash sounded down the end of the hall. Regina began to panic, she tried to stay quiet, but her breath escaped in short, stocatto bursts. Emma, who was standing next to her, both of their backs flat with the wall, reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing her fingers with Regina's. Emma's thumb slowly caressed the back of Regina's hand.

At this point Emma had correctly assumed that the obviously drunk man was King Leopold. With her experience in the foster system, she recognized from Regina's reaction that she was most certainty a victim of some abuse from the man, whether it be physical, sexual or, Emma cringed at the thought, both.

"She will never leave this castle again…" The man's voice boomed, closer this time. The clattering of a sword on stone echoed in the hallway.

"He's getting closer" Regina breathed. They were stuck. The hallway was so long that if they ran the opposite way, he would most likely call for guards and have them stationed and ready to fight before they even reached the end. They could try to run past him and hide in the tower, but that involved a considerable risk, and from the flashbacks both Regina and Emma had experienced, they knew that drunken Leopold was no one to be messed with.

"We're going to run past him, I'll put a protective spell around us." Emma flipped from her position with her back against the wall to standing face to face with Regina. Their chests brushed and their hips were pressed together. Emma held Regina's face with her hands, each hand cupping a cheek.

"We're going to do this together, okay?" Emma encouraged.

"Okay," Regina nodded weakly.

"Alright, we'll try to slip past him, maybe he's too drunk to notice. If he sees us, run." Emma instructed. Again, Regina nodded. Flashbacks of Leopold forcing himself on her years ago swirled in her mind.

"Ready…Go" Emma whispered. The two women slid out from behind the column, their backs glued to the wall as the side stepped down the hallway. Leopold was busy trying to pick up his dropped sword. He swung his arm out to grab it, his drink sloshed over. He steadied his drink and tried again, finally getting a good grip on the hilt when his drink began to pour onto the floor. He grumbled and swayed as he stood up.

After a few seconds of adjustment to the spinning world he noticed Regina and Emma nervously shuffling down the hall. They were about twenty feet in front of him now, and about a hundred feet away from the end of the hallway

"You," he snarled as he looked at both Regina and Emma. Neither woman knew whom he was talking to. His face turned a deep purple color as rage pooled up and swirled within him.

"I'm going to kill you both," he slurred. When he began to fumble in his pocket, the two women took the chance to run. Emma flicked her hands and held them flexed in front of her as they ran. The blue protective dome surrounded them both. Just as they had gotten about even with him on the other side of the hallway, Leopold pulled his fist out of his pocket and threw a small package that was crumpled in his clenched fist at Emma.

The package hit Emma's leg. The blue dome flickered and disappeared. Emma was thrown against the wall at the force of the magic that flew out of the pouch. Emma's face was one of pure shock.

"You always think your magic can save you Emma. Well it didn't save you the first time we met, and it won't this time." Leopold grinned.

"What did he do?" Regina screamed as she ran over to Emma's crumpled form against the wall.

"My magic, it's weak,.." Emma sputtered out. Regina stood in front of Emma and focused. She flicked her hands and a fireball formed. She threw it toward Leopold but mid-air the fireball turned into an apple.

"You're going to throw apples at me?" He laughed. Regina snarled. Leopold advanced toward them slowly, sword in hand. Emma pulled herself off the ground using Regina's arm as a stabilizer.

"Run!" She shouted when she saw the Leopold getting closer and closer.

"But..." Regina began.

"I'm right behind you, run," Emma snapped. The blonde and brunette began to sprint down the hall. Emma tensed her hands; a flickering blue dome appeared around them for a second before disappearing. She tried again. It flickered and disappeared. She wasn't strong enough. She focused on the woman running in front of her. She flicked her hands again and a steady blue dome began to follow Regina's form, protecting her.

Regina passed Leopold, but when he swung the sword at her, the blue dome caused it to bounce off. Harmlessly. Regina kept running and made it all the way down the end of the hallway. She looked quickly to the left and saw that the tower door stationed no guards. They were so close, once inside that door, she was the only one who knew about the hidden passageways. They would be safe. She breathed a side of relief but then realized Emma wasn't right beside her.

"Emma?" She said as she turned around. Back down the hallway Emma stood over Leopold's limp form. Regina swore she saw him stir, but didn't know if it was just a delusion. When Emma heard her name being called she jogged up to Regina. Her jog was heavy and awkward, but Regina atoned it to the shock and exhaustion of what they had just endured.

"Is he dead?" Regina asked hopefully.

"I don't know" Emma admitted. Her breath was labored and a thin layer of sweat covered her forehead. Her right hand pressed firmly against her side.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked.

"I'm fine," Emma replied, but she staggered to the nearest wall and leaned on it heavily. She craned her neck up and forced herself to take deep breaths.

"Emma…" Regina walked up to Emma and gently grabbed onto Emma's wrist. She slowly pulled it back from the spot that Emma was covering. There, a pool of blood was growing on Emma's shirt. Regina sucked in a sharp breath in horror. She pulled away the already tattered shirt open to reveal a thick gash. The sword had sliced Emma's side deeply and she was losing large quantities of blood.

"But the protective field…"

"My magic was too weak" Emma said nonchalantly as she attempted a smile. It dawned on Regina that she must have been the only one covered in the blue dome. Emma had sacrificed her own safety to protect her, again.

"Oh, Emma" Regina said. Regina heard faint noise coming from the hallway, "we have to get into the tower. We'll be safe. Can you walk?" Emma nodded. Regina slung Emma's arm around her shoulders to help her support her weight. They made their way over to the tower doorway and went through. Beyond the doorway there was another hallway that led into a network of dark passageways.

Regina grabbed a torch off the wall and felt around on a wall. She found a specific brick and pushed it forward, a secret door revealing itself on the opposite wall. It slid open and they hobbled through it. On the other side of the secret door, Regina pressed another brick to close it. The only light here was the fire glowing from Regina's torch. Emma leaned against a wall to take a breather and Regina remained under her arm, effectively keeping her standing.

"We can take a break-" Regina began.

"No, we have to get there."

"But we have time. Take just a minute. You need your energy" Regina said firmly. Emma nodded. Emma's hair had fallen and stuck slightly to her sweaty forehead. Regina delicately brushed the hair back behind her ears with a heartbreaking smile. Emma smiled back, looking deep into Regina's eyes.

The moment was broken when Emma broke out into a coughing fit, grimacing at the pain it caused to ripple through her abdomen. Blood flowed and covered her hand, which was still trying to press against it.

I don't know how long I'm going to-" Emma began.

"Don't say that" Regina snapped, her lip quivered and she suddenly felt so angry at the world for letting this happen. She had just begun to get to know this woman, and this had to happen. Emma saw Regina's eyes begin to pool with unshed tears. She relented.

"I'm sorry. Are you ready?" Emma said as she hoisted herself back up on her feet, away from the wall. She looked up at the spiraling staircase they had to conquer to get to the mirror.

"Wait, first…" Regina took hold the part of Emma's ripped shirt and tugged. The shirt ripped off easily from its thin quality. Regina stretched the material and wrapped it around Emma's midsection, bandaging the wound as best as she could. The additional pressure seemed to slow the bleeding.

"Just admit it, you've been wanting to rip this ugly shirt apart since the minute you saw it." Emma tried to chuckle, but it came out more like a wince from the pain that laughing caused her.

"That I have, dear, though maybe not for the reasons you think," Regina whispered softly. Her characteristically sarcastic dear, was instead laced with sadness. Emma smiled weakly at Regina.

"Let's go." Emma said firmly as she moved to start climbing the beginning of a seemingly never-ending spiral of stairs.


	16. Mirror, Mirror

**A/N: Okay, so things are going to get a little confusing in this chapter when the two realms collide. In order to keep everything straight I have tried to use contact and scenery to distinguish between both sets of Emmas and Reginas. **

**For the Emma and Regina that are originally from Storybrooke, but have been wandering around in the Enchanted Forest for the past couple chapters I have referred to them using the names Emma Swan and Regina Mills, as well as mentioned their location in the castle. **

**For the Emma and Regina that are originally from the Enchanted Forest and have currently been in Storybrooek for the past couple chapters (the ones that are actively in a steady relationship right now), I have tried to include context clues such as Henry, mention of the tomb, etc.**

**For the first half of the chapter, the name of the realm will be written.**

**Sorry this was so long. Hopefully I don't confuse anyone and you can keep them straight. This was one of my favorite chapters to write for I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

_Storybrooke:_

"Do you have any fours?"

"Hm….Go fish"

Emma, Regina and Henry sat around on the stone floor of the tomb in a circle. They each held playing cards in their hands. Regina and Emma's eyes drooped tiredly. They had sat in front of the mirror all night, alternating the designated person to stay up and keep an eye on the mirror.

Through the entire night, the glass remained fixed on the same image. The same overturned chairs. The same dust ridden floor. At one point Emma had worried that it was just a picture rather than an actual portal into the Enchanted Forest, but a strong wind had blown from outside the view of the mirror and had caused some dust to bounce along the floor during Regina's night watch. So the group continued to wait.

"Do you have any sixes?"

This was their fourth round of Go Fish. Henry's eyes dipped father and father shut with each blink. After about ten minutes of head bobbing, he dozed off mid game. Emma carried him over to the overflowing pile of blankets they had brought down.

Regina took a spell book she found laying on the bookshelf and flipped through it. When she came to a page labeled magic mirror in large scrawling letters, she stopped and scanned the page intently.

"Emma, look," she called. Emma crawled over from her watching station across from the mirror and leaned over to get a look at the book. Regina underlined a sentence with her forefinger.

_When two realms are split, the enactor can determine the variable that dictates the direction and future of the newly formed realms_

"We know Rumplestilskin chose me as the variable. He took me out of your life in the new realm so you would become the Evil Queen" Emma said after Regina looked at her questioningly. This satisfied Regina so they both turned back to the book.

_A magic mirror can be used to transport between the realms. This includes a split realm. If a version of an individual from one realm goes through the mirror to the other side of the split realm, then the second version of the individual will cease to exist in that realm. Two versions may switch realms if entering the magic mirror, from both sides, at the same time. _

"Okay, We knew that part. That's the reason we have to wait forever anyway." Emma grumbled.

_Not everyone can enter the magic mirror. There must be a powerful source of magic from both sides in order for the switch to occur. An uneven distribution of magic may result in realm distortion meaning one may enter into a realm that they knew going into the mirror, but will change while traveling through the mirror._

"How do we know the same magic will be available for them?" Regina worried. She began to fidget as she read more and more of the book.

"I will be providing the magic on this side, and a different, yet equally as powerful version of me will provide the magic on the other side." Emma stated calmly. She placed a hand on Regina's knee, "See? Everything is going to work out just fine."

"Okay," Regina sighed.

Emma went back to her station as Regina continued to flip mindlessly through the pages.

* * *

Hours later Regina rotated with Emma to claim her position in front of the mirror as Emma and Henry tossed peanuts into each other's mouths. It had to be daytime by now, but the underground location of the cave made it impossible to know. The three were completely oblivious to the fact that the mayor, the sheriff and their son's presence had been noticed. In fact, people were starting to get worried.

"Henry?" Emma asked as she crunched on a peanut.

"Huh?"

"Do you think your Moms like it here?" Emma lofted Henry a peanut. It bounced off his lip.

"In Storybrooke?"

"Yeah"

"Not really. I think it hurts my Mom to be here. And I know Emma's only here for me."

"Do you like it here?"

"It's okay. I don't really care as long as I have my Moms," He said truthfully. Emma wanted nothing more than for the boy to reunite with his Moms, but the thought of leaving him felt like a sucker punch to the stomach.

"I'm going to miss you, kid" Emma said when the peanuts were all out. Henry's face dropped at the realization that he was never going to see this Regina and Emma again. He ran over to Emma and crashed into her as her wrapped himself around her body in a hug.

"I'm going to miss you too." He said as he squeezed tighter. After the two had broken he quickly raced up to Regina, who was still sitting on the other side of the room and enveloped her in a hug from behind.

"Oh! Henry! You scared me." Regina had been completely lost in thought before the boy had snuck up on her.

"We're going to see each other again, right?" Henry asked, his eyes pooling with tears. Regina's heart ached.

"We'll find a way Henry." She smiled hopefully. The moment was broken by a bang. Regina jumped and looked around frantically to see where it had come from.

"The mirror!" Henry exclaimed. Emma ran over to where Regina and Henry sat. In the glass of the mirror, the door in the normally still room ripped open. The shadows made it difficult to see who had just entered.

Emma hushed Henry and Regina until she could figure who this person…or was it two people, were? One seemed bent over; the other one stood tall and seemed to be dragging the first one forward.

"Henry?" The erect figure shouted. The two figures moved closer into the light that shone from the window. It was Regina.

* * *

_Enchanted Forest:_

Emma huffed and coughed. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees, trying to regain her breath.

"We're going to take a break," Regina stated as she helped Emma stagger over to the side of the flat between levels they were standing on. Emma slid down the wall and sat on the ground. Regina slid down the wall next to her.

"No. We have to keep going." Emma growled, frustrated at her body's inability to keep up.

"Emma, if you pass out, I can't carry you up these steps, and then we'll be going nowhere. We're taking a break." Regina said resolutely. Emma didn't bother to counter argue her. Regina had a point, as she usually did.

"Regina"

"Yes"

"'I'm sorry." Emma said with sorrow. Regina snorted.

"What on earth do you have to be sorry for?"

"I misjudged you in Storybrooke. I can't even begin to comprehend what pain you must have gone through to be so desperate to cast a curse like that." Emma admitted. Her head hung low, ashamed.

"Not enough to make it acceptable," Regina sighed, "Definitely not enough to have you risk your life…multiple times to…protect me!" Emotions were beginning to overwhelm her and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop it.

"How could you do this to me Emma?" Regina wanted to be angry. Angry she was used to. If only she could hate Emma for making stupid decisions, especially stupid ones regarding her. She should hate her. But her angry façade was breaking down, fast. Her lip quivered as she looked at Emma's pitiful state. She bit down on it firmly to hold in the sobs that were growing by the second. Blood began to trickle into her mouth, but it only caused her to bite down harder.

"Come here," Emma said as she held out an arm. Regina uncharacteristically crawled into it immediately, needing the comfort. It surprised both women how natural it felt.

"If I don't make it back to Storybrooke with you-" Emma began.

"Emma, stop right now." Regina said, her chest heaving with sobs that were now screaming to be released.

"No, I need to say this. Just once." Emma staggered out between breaths, "You don't need to close yourself off. People will understand. Give them a shot. I understood, didn't I?" Regina laughed bitterly.

"Yes the one person in the entire world who was apparently meant to understand me thinks she's going to die. You saw in the other realm Emma, we were…" Regina wanted to say that they were in love, but realized she had no idea how Emma truly felt about her. The only kiss they shared had been to fulfill a purpose. Yet again, she was going to face the heartbreak of not being loved back. She pushed aside the thoughts that made her stomach clench and heart ache.

"And now. Now, you're going to leave me. Alone" Regina choked out while sobs ripped through body. Tears flowed freely from her eyes. Emma felt like her insides were being ripped out. She wanted to grab ahold of Regina and never let go. Instead, she forced herself to stay composed. She had to be the brave one for Regina, always the brave one.

"You have Henry." Emma offered.

"He hates me" Regina spat.

"He won't. Just explain to him. He'll understand. I promise Emma said firmly. Regina just shook her head back and forth saying no, but wanting to believe Emma so badly.

"Promise"

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I don't. We should keep going" Emma forced out. The pain in her abdomen spread up her back. It infiltrated her head, which was currently pounding away. Her body felt light and weak probably due from all the lost blood. Regina reluctantly helped Emma stand back up.

When they were both face to face, Emma wiped the remaining trail of tears from Regina's face. She took a deep breath as her eyes remained trained on Regina's. Not leaving them for a second.

"I have to do this just once, for real…"Emma whispered before she leaned toward Regina and kissed her softly. It was a kiss that said both hello and goodbye. It held both a beginning, and an end. Regina pressed her lips into Emma's soft pink ones. How was it possible for her heart to both feel like it was swelling and breaking at the same time? When they pulled back, quiet tears covered both of their faces. Emma took Regina's hand and they continued their trek up the rest of the stairs.

It took exactly one hour. It felt like exactly six hours, when the women finally reached the top of the tower. Emma was in awful shape. She had begun to intermittently lose consciousness on her way up the stairs and it had taken all of Regina's strength to drag her up them until she would wake back up.

The whole time Regina focused all her energy on getting to the mirror. She counted each step they had climbed so that maybe her feelings of desperation and loneliness that badgered her, as her newly acquired lover died slowly in her arms would go away. They didn't.

She slammed the door open to the room with the mirror and trudged through it. Scanning the room for the mirror, she noticed a large oval frame. It looked like a mirror, but instead of seeing her reflection she saw…

"Henry?" She shouted.

* * *

_Both realms, through the mirror:_

"Mom!" Henry shouted as he crawled up inches away from the mirror.

"Henry, don't touch it!" The two women sitting behind him screamed right before he placed his finger on the glass.

"Henry?" The hunched over figure that Regina held up was revealed to be Emma.

"Ma! What happened?" Henry's voice went from excitement to worry when he saw what obviously rough shape she was in.

"Just a little mishap, kid." Emma attempted to smile. Regina focused on setting Emma down on the ground softly and Henry's face scrunched up in worry when he saw the amount of blood soaking her shirt.

Emma and Regina approached the mirror from behind Henry; Regina put her hand on Henry's shoulder to console him.

"So you're the other version of me" Emma Swan weakly pushed out good-naturedly to the other Emma who was currently comforting her son.

"It seems so…at least that looks like a situation I'd get myself into" Emma responded with humor, but her face was grim. Regina grasped onto Emma's arm and spoke through the mirror to Regina Mills, who was currently pressing her hand to Emma's wound.

"Emma needs to touch the mirror. She needs to make the magic flow from her into the mirror. It will ripple if it works. Then, the four of us will walk through and we should end up on the other side." Regina nodded in confirmations as she looked down at the pale woman that was lying in her lap.

"Can you do that?" Regina asked, rubbing her hands through Emma's hair. Emma nodded and leaned forward, groaning when her abdomen bent. She slowly touched the glass with her finger. It rippled upon contact. Regina squeezed her arm in encouragement.

"Good job baby." Regina whispered. Emma closed her eyes and rest briefly. A lazy smile played out on her face.

"Is 'baby' going to become a thing for us? Cause I might be able to live if that's what my future holds," She said as her eyes remained closed. She almost looked serene despite the gory state she was in.

"I will call you every pet name in the book if it mean you'll stay alive" Regina said seriously.

"Deal," Emma agreed as her eyes opened slowly.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" The other Emma stood up and tousled Henry's hair lovingly. She interlaced her hand with Regina's as they both stood in front of the mirror. Regina in Emma, who continued to lounge on the castle floor, struggled to stand. Regina heaved a gasping Emma up onto her feet. Her skin was a deathly white and her eyes struggled to stay open. Her head bobbed slightly as unconsciousness threatened to overtake her.

Regina looked around the tomb she stood in. The book that she had been reading earlier about magic mirrors caught her eye. Her eyes lingered on it. She turned to Emma who had already been reading her mind. Emma's eyes held overflowed with sadness, but nodded firmly. Regina's eyes mirrored her own, sadness speckled with hope, and returned the nod.

"Just, one second!" Emma said as she ran over to the book and crouched down. She pulled out a pen and ripped out a page from the book and scribbled something in it. "What's that?" Henry asked innocently about the folded piece of paper Emma was shoving in her pocket.

"Nothing really…just things to remember if we end up somewhere and have no idea what happened." Emma said, she swallowed the lump that was growing in her throat.

She rejoined Regina's side and they leaned in for a passionate kiss. If one kiss was meant to define their relationship, define all the sacrifice and love that encompassed the two, it would be this one. They pulled apart and mouthed 'I love you' to each other.

"On three, we'll step in" Emma said as a tear trailed down the side of her face. She glanced at Henry who was now standing a few feet a way, gazing hopefully at his mothers on the other side of the mirror.

"He's worth it," she whispered to herself.

"1…2…3" The four women stepped into the rippling glass.


	17. Cool Breezes and Salty Air

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favorites, I really appreciate it! This is the second to last chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Everything was black.

Slowly, ever so slowly, rays of light began to filter in. Emma's eyes squinted as her pupils began to adjust to the light. All she saw was blue. Endless blue. She turned her head and felt sand scratch against her cheek.

A foot away she saw someone else laying on the sand. Their head was turned. She leaned up on her elbow and reached out to turn the person's face towards her. It was Regina.

Suddenly it all came back to her. Storybrooke. Henry. Waking up in the Enchanted Forest. Kissing Regina. Fighting Leopold in the hallway. Getting stabbed by his sword. Walking through the mirror. Wait, stabbed by his sword?

She looked down at her abdomen. Her shirt was tattered revealing most of her stomach. It was flat and toned. She twisted her spine a little to get a better look at her side; there was no gaping wound, no leaking blood. What remained there was a faint scar. Emma turned back to Regina.

"Regina?" Emma husked. Her throat was dry from the heat she realized pouring down from the sun. Regina stirred slightly before rolling onto her side. She squinted and blinked her eyes rapidly to adjust to the sun.

"Emma?" Regina looked at Emma's eyes, her brow furrowing as she debated whether or not this was just an illusion. "Emma," she said contently after Emma softly put her hand to Regina's face, cupping her cheek. Emma pulled Regina into her arms and rolled her body next to Regina's on the sand.

"I love you" Emma rushed out in a relieved breath, "I should have told you and I didn't. I love you" A small smile formed on Regina's lips as her eyes gazed at Emma in pure affection.

"I love you too." She whispered. They peppered each other with tender kisses that were filled with nothing short of love. Pulling away seconds later, they smiled contently at each other.

"Where are we?" Emma asked when she finally realized that they were not at all where they were supposed to have ended up after walking through the mirror, Storybrooke. She glanced around. They were on a beach. Endless ocean touched the horizon and beyond. The sun was hot, but not stifling, and a cool breeze blew. The wall of a cliff about a hundred feet back from the shore restricted them on the beach.

"I have no idea. Where's Hen-"

"Mom! Ma!" Henry came sprinting across the beach, sand kicking up in his wake. His hair was salt filled and tousled with the wind. His arms swung back and forth and he crashed into the women who were still half sitting on the ground. He wrapped one woman in each of his arms and they all hugged tightly.

"Where are we?" Henry asked as he pulled back. His face was one of pure happiness, oblivious to any possible nuisance of waking up on a random beach. He was just so overwhelmingly excited to have his Moms back.

"We have no idea," Regina said as she finally stood up and brushed the sand off her pants. She would have to find a change of clothes, she noted. It was much too hot for black slacks. Emma followed suit and began to stand up as well.

"Emma what happened to your cut?" Henry asked as he poked the scar tissue that hand formed on her side.

"I…don't know. I remember walking into the mirror and then I woke up here."

"Exactly, which is why I don't understand what went wrong." Regina added.

"Well…should we look around and try to figure out where we are?" Henry asked, a big grin on his face. He had woken up a little ways down the beach, but from what he had seen this place looked awesome. He wanted to explore.

Emma looked at Regina questioningly.

"Okay" Regina shrugged. They picked themselves off the sand and started to walk along the beach as Henry pointed out something new for Regina to 'look at', or Emma to 'come see'.

After becoming exasperated with the women's ability to keep up, he raced ahead of them picking up crabs and gathering shells. Emma reached out her hand, which was currently swaying by her side, and interlaced it with Regina's. A slight blush crept up Regina's neck.

"You know, I think you'd better start..." Emma said seriously.

"Start what?"

"Making your way through that book of pet names…there are quite a lot you know." Emma's schooled face broke into a smile.

"But…" Regina whined, her own smirk present.

"Nope. A deal is a deal." Emma said with a hundred watt grin.

"Of course, honey." Regina mockingly. Emma sighed exaggeratedly.

"Ahh. Music to my ears" Regina playfully hit Emma's shoulder.

"Mom..." Henry had returned to the two with his head down in shame.

"What is it Henry?" Regina asked.

"Um, Regina, I mean, the other Regina, told me how you became the Evil Queen and I'm sorry. I didn't think about it." Henry looked at his feet. If he had been a dog, his tail would have been undoubtedly tucked between his legs.

"Oh Henry it's okay. I love you always." Henry let out a deep sigh of relief. Emma pushed Henry slightly forward.

"Go play, kid, you've got a whole beach to discover."

"Okay!" He took off running, splashing into an upcoming wave. Emma nudged Regina with her shoulder.

"Not that I'm one to say I tol-"

"Don't even start, dear. You'll ruin my good mood."

"The Evil Wueen is in a good mood? My, my…" Emma joked before winking at Regina and sprinting off after their son down the beach. Regina shook her head as she continued to stroll along the beach. Her hair flew back and forth at the wind's discretion. She couldn't remember a time when she had been more carefree, more relaxed in her whole life.

She should be frantic after landing on an island with no idea what happened or where they were. But she was stuck with her family; so all the uncertainty that surrounded her seemed all very trivial in the larger picture.

Something large bumped her leg and interrupted her thoughts. She looked down to see that it was a giant shaggy dog. The dog was running as fast as it could toward Emma and Henry who were running into, and then retreating from the water.

The dog crouched down and jumped on Emma. At first, Regina's heart lurched in worry, but she relaxed when Emma began laughing from the slobbery kisses the dog was planting all over her face. Henry pet the dog, and scratched its ears as Emma squirmed out from underneath the huge mop of fur.

"Max!" Regina heard in the distance, she whipped around and saw a dark haired man sprinting toward her on the beach. When he caught up to Regina he leaned over to catch his breath. "I'm so sorry. He just saw people down the beach and ran off. He's really friendly" The dark haired man said as he motioned to the dog that was now running back towards them. Emma and Henry followed close behind him.

"Yes, I can see that" Regina said as she smiled at Emma who scooped Henry up in her arms mid stride.

"Max! You can't run off like that!" The man scolded as he petted the dog that had begun nuzzling into his legs in apology. "I'm Eric." The man held out his hand for Regina to shake. Regina froze. Eric. She knew that name. That was the name of Ariel's Prince. The one that she had prevented Ariel from being with. The one whose life she had indirectly ruined. Her head began pounding. She would never be able to start over, everywhere she went, people would know her as the Evil Queen. She would always be the Evil Queen. It would never end.

"Hey! I'm Emma. This is Henry." Emma introduced when she approached the two.

"I'm Eric. This is Max." He returned.

"Eric as in the The Little Mermaid?" Emma asked incredulously. She looked at Henry who exchanged a ridiculous look with her.

"Huh?" Eric asked.

"Ariel. Where is she?" Regina asked cautiously.

"I don't know who Ariel is?" Eric said, a confused look on his face, "and I've never seen a mermaid…" He turned back to Emma.

"Oh. Well wrong Eric, maybe." Emma shrugged. She noticed the tense look on Regina's face, but refrained from asking her what was wrong.

"Eric, we kind of just woke up here and have no where to go, and don't know where we are." Henry stated blatantly.

"Oh wow! Well I live up there in that castle. Come on, I'll take care of you. Maybe we can see what we can figure about what happened," he said lightly as he began to walk further down the beach where the entrance to his castle assumedly lay. Regina and Emma lagged behind.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Emma asked and Regina gave her an incredulous look.

"How did you know something was wrong?"

"I just did. Now what's wrong?"

"That is the Eric you thought he was, from the Little Mermaid. He's supposed to know Ariel though. Ariel and I have some…history." Regina grimaced.

"Maybe we've jumped into this realm before he met her? Or maybe he won't meet her? I don't know. I have no idea what's going on after all we've been through. All I know is that I have you and Henry and that's all that matters." Emma stated.

"There's no way we could have time traveled and traveled to a different realm, the amount of magic a person would have to expend would be enough to kill them, and you're still here."

"Then maybe we're just in a different realm that's similar, all I know is that from now on, everything is going to be okay." Emma encouraged.

"I hope you're right" Regina sighed and leaned her head on Emma's shoulder.

* * *

After a long walk up to the spacious castle, the group stepped into the grand hall. It was beautiful and decorated with sea life paraphilia from wall to wall.

"Why don't you guys go relax on the balcony? I'll go get you some food and water. " Eric offered as he disappeared into a different room. Emma, Regina and Henry made their way to the balcony that hung off of the grand hall.

They all plopped in chairs, exhausted from the sun and salty air. For a decent amount of time they all just took in the beautiful view of the sea. They could relax now. They were together with food and water coming from a generous host. The waves hit the beach with loud crashes and then slowly retreated back into ocean.

"It's nice here," Emma said as she tipped her head back to take in the sunlight.

"Yes, it is." Regina replied softly as she breathed in the salty air. She scanned the land, there was a beach that surrounded them on three sides. On the last side, trees stood up, scattered on the rolling hills for as far as she could see. A couple of miles away there seemed to be a village.

"I could live here" Emma whispered into Regina's ear. Regina raised her eyebrows and gave Emma a surprised look.

"You would do that?"

"Everything I love is here. Why wouldn't I?" Emma leaned over and kissed Regina sweetly on the cheek. Regina's heart felt like it was going to explode. She breathed in deeply in order to spread the warmth that had grown within her chest. Her eyes watered slightly, overwhelmed by the immense happiness she felt at the idea of a future with both Emma and Henry. Oh how things have changed, she thought.

"Why don't I remember anything that happened?" Henry whined, oblivious to the whispering that was going on, "I wasn't even in the mirror."

"I have no idea how you ended up with us Henry." Emma said. Her forehead crinkled in confusion as she tried to recall what happened but there was a major gap of memory that just didn't make sense.

She distinctly remembered walking in the mirror, she had stepped her foot into the rippling glass and then an almost magnetic pull seemed to consume her and then she woke up on the beach.

Suddenly, Henry remembered the other Emma stuffing a piece of paper in her pocket right before she crossed into the mirror.

"_What's that?" Henry had said. _

"_Nothing really…just things to remember if we end up somewhere and have no idea what happened."_

"Check your pocket" Henry said to Emma. Emma gave Henry a weird look, but reached into her tight jean pockets. Her eyes opened wide when she pulled out a folded piece of paper. She held it delicately in her palms and stared at it.

"The other Emma ripped this out the spell book and wrote on it right before you guys walked through" Henry exclaimed. Regina and Henry both leaned out from their chairs to get a better look at the paper that Emma was unfolding. It was the page from the magic spell book, just as Henry remembered.

Emma flattened the paper on her lap. She scanned over the frantic scrawl that covered the page. Her eyes opened wide and her lips parted open as she finished reading it.


	18. A Fresh Start

**A/N: This is it. The last chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this story all the way through! Thanks for all the support :)**

* * *

Emma flattened the paper on her lap. She scanned over the frantic scrawl that covered the page. Her eyes opened wide and her lips parted open as she finished reading the paper.

_Emma's magic is too weak. She won't be able to survive crossing over through the mirror. Henry needs both of you. He loves you. If I focus my magic on protecting you, you can make it. We found our love; now it's your time for a fresh start. Don't worry Regina; if this works you should have traveled back in time. No one will know you here. _

Regina stared at the paper long after she finished reading it. Tears were welling up in her eyes, they gathered at the forefront. A singular tear finally fell and landed on the paper, leaving a wet splotch. She tipped her head back to contain the wetness that continued to pool in her eyes.

"They healed you Emma. That's why you only have a scar," Regina swallowed, "they used their magic to make sure we survived."

"No…" Emma shook her head as her chin quivered. She pursed her lips to still her chin.

"They sacrificed themselves," Regina realized as she continued to stare out at the ocean. Henry's mouth was open in shock, his face frozen.

"Why would they do that?" Emma screamed, "They were so happy, Regina, we saw them. We saw their entire life. They were so in love." Regina held out an arm and Emma leaned her head on Regina's chest as Regina began to run her fingers through Emma's hair.

"This is my fault. I shouldn't have gotten stabbed by that sword. Then none of this would have happened." Emma trembled.

"You got hit by that sword because you were protecting me," Regina said firmly as she tipped Emma's head up to meet her eyes, "Always protecting me… for no reason" Regina said guiltily.

"I have _every_ reason to protect you," Emma answered. The two women stared at each other, sadness radiating off of them in waves.

"They…they…" Henry's voice hitched from his crying.

"What is it Henry?" Emma turned from Henry and rubbed his back.

"They sent us to their happy ending."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked.

"When we were in Storybrooke they told me the reason they had used the magic bean in the first place was to start over. A fresh start they said. They t-told me about the l-land they were going to. A wh-white house on a beach, with rocky cliffs."

Henry was openly sobbing now, his throat choking on every other word, "Emma had it all planned out. They joked about whether or not they were going to get a dog. When I asked why Emma wanted a dog so badly, she told me that the dog on the island would need a friend." He finished, wiping the tears that were flowing freely from his eyes.

"A friend for what dog? Max?" Emma whispered to herself as she leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. She knew the lives of the other Emma and Regina. She had seen them flash before her eyes.

The other Emma had been the single most brave, selfless, person she'd ever known. She had done everything to protect Regina. She had dedicated her life to protecting Regina. Emma glanced over to the brunette who was sitting quietly, staring out at the ocean. She looked so small. Emma promised herself she would do anything to protect the enigma of a woman in front of her. She would be everything the other Emma was.

Meanwhile, Regina bit her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth.

"What are you thinking about?" Emma murmured, breaking Regina's concentration.

"Nothing" Regina said quietly. She slowly turned her head to look at Emma. Just as Emma was about to push for more, Eric came back with their food and water.

"Hopefully this is good enough to start us off" he said as he placed large glasses of water with plates of breads, cheeses, fish, and some sort of meat. He realized that everyone had been crying and looked around frantically.

"Did I do something? I didn't mean to do-"

"Eric, you've been nothing but gracious. We're just very tired and confused." Regina said softly. She smiled at the man. It seemed to relax him at least a little bit.

"Understandably," he nodded as he continued to pass out plates and utensils. They all began to eat hungrily and a comfortable silence spread over the table. The only sound for a while was the scraping of utensils here and there.

"I've gotten word that there is a vacant house on the beach. It seemingly appeared there overnight, just like you all did. Do you know anything about this?" Eric asked in between bites. They all shook their heads no as they continued to eat. Henry finished swallowing an excessively large bite of food.

"Can we go look at the house?" he asked Eric.

"Of course. I figured you all could stay there for now."

"How far away is it?" Emma asked

"Only a little ways down the beach"

"Why don't we go check it out when we finish eating?" Regina said.

"I'm done" Henry exclaimed as he pushed his plate away from him. He gave Emma a pointed look. Emma sighed and threw her napkin onto her plate.

"I suppose I'm done, too" she said and pushed her plate away from her. Regina finished swallowing. She could bear to relax for a couple more seconds, but Henry was fidgeting constantly in his seat.

"Alright you two, let's go." She said and gently placed her utensils down on the table. Eric smiled at the women and bid them good luck.

"You're welcome to stay here if the house isn't adequate, or at least until you get some food to stock it with," he smiled easily. The trio thanked him and made their way out of the castle.

* * *

They walked along the beach together, Henry in the middle. The twenty minute walk went by in a flash. Henry's excitement refused to lessen. He couldn't get enough of the "cool" beach and so he spent the majority of the walk chattering about all the adventures and activities they could do.

"…and we could bury someone in the sand…" he said as he rattled off his lengthy list of activities.

"Someone like Regina" Emma said playfully. Regina whipped her head to look at Emma. She gave her sharp glare.

"You will do no such thing, Miss Swan"

"I think you actually want to be buried, you're just afraid what all these people will think of you" Emma waved her hand at the empty beach.

"That is not at all-"

"Henry, don't you think your Mom wants to be covered in sand all the way up to her neck?" Emma continued, Henry giggled to himself.

"You couldn't be more wrong, I swear-"

"I think she wants it so much that we should just do it right now. Let's give her what she wants Henry" Emma continued to tease.

"Do not do-" Regina's warning was cut off by Emma who lifted her Regina off her feet. The swift movement caught Regina off guard and she let out a surprised yelp.

Henry pretended to start digging a hole and Emma swung Regina as if to throw her in the hole, but kept her safe in her arms. Regina's arms tightened around Emma's neck as her face paled at the thought of being plopped in a hole of sand. Once Emma stopped swinging, she gave Regina a shit-eating grin. Regina attempted to look angry, but could only shake her head with a little smirk on her face.

"I liked you better when you had a stab wound" Regina joked.

"Oh I knew I was dating a hopeless romantic. Likes me better when I'm keeled over and about to die." Emma laughed easily. She paused when she realized exactly what she had just said; "I mean- I don't know if we're exactly- we don't have to-"Regina watched the woman struggle to explain. She placed her fingers over Emma's lips to still them.

"We are whatever you want us to be, we can be dating, we can be partners, I don't care. I love you." She said quietly. The smile that Emma returned was so brilliant, Regina realized she would do almost anything to keep that smile present in her life every day.

"I love you too"

"I think I'm missing something though," Regina quipped. Emma raised an eyebrow. Regina leaned in to Emma, her plump lips inches away from the soft pink ones. Their hearts began to speed up. Both of them were mesmerized by the others' lips.

"I forgot to tell you how much I hate you for making me use pet names, _pumpkin_" Regina added at the end with a scowl. Emma threw her head back in shaking laughter.

"Come here" Emma said when she was finished laughing. With that she pulled Regina, still wrapped in her arms, towards her and crashed their lips together. Regina turned to deepen it, but was interrupted.

"Are you guys like in love or something?" Henry asked from behind the women. They had completely forgot he was walking with them.

"Uh…" Emma stammered and looked nervously at Regina.

"Yes," Regina stated confidently as she motioned to Emma to put her down. Henry shrugged with a smile on his face.

"Cool."

"You're not surprised? We used to hate each other." Emma asked.

"The other Emma and Regina told me that you would probably fall in love"

"How in the world could they know that?" Regina huffed. She didn't like being predictable.

"I told them how you two acted towards each other and Regina laughed. She said that the moments when you," he pointed to Regina, "seemed like you hated Emma the most, you were probably fighting how much you really liked her." Regina looked towards Emma who gave Regina a crooked smile.

"You two are technically the same person after all" Emma shrugged.

"Still, I-"

"Woahhhhhh" Henry cut Regina off. He pointed his finger towards a house that had just come into view. It had white panels and a white angled roof. There was a wrap around porch that opened up in the front. The steps coming down from the porch led right onto the sand. Henry sprinted toward it and climbed onto the porch. He turned around quickly.

"Come on guys!" He called and disappeared into the front door. Emma and Regina made their way up to the house and stood in front of it. It was exactly the kind of house Regina had always secretly wanted. They stood there for a while and just gazed at the picturesque house.

Regina's hand sought out Emma's. Henry peeked his head out moments later,"Emma and Regina definitely created this house Moms! It has food and clothes and everything!" he screamed.

"Also…" He opened the door a little more and a black Labrador puppy squeezed its way out. It ran to Regina and Emma and jumped up on Emma's legs. Emma leaned down to pet it. Even Regina couldn't deny how adorable it was.

Emma picked the puppy up in her arms. It squirmed for a bit before deciding it was comfortable and settled against Emma's chest. Emma turned her torso so Regina could pet the dog as well. It nuzzled against Regina's hand and closed its eyes.

Regina looked up into Emma's swirling green eyes. She was breathtaking. "So what do you think?" Regina asked.

"About the puppy?"

"About the house, the island, everything"

"It's perfect," Emma said as she glanced around her. She was in paradise. She had the most beautiful woman next to her, waves were crashing a few feet away from her, her son was the happiest she'd every seen him, and there was a puppy currently making residence in her arms. Could it even get any better?

"So you think maybe, you'd want to stay?" Regina asked cautiously, her voice trembling. Despite the fact that Emma admitted her love for her just hours earlier, she was deathly afraid of rejection. There was a reason she never let anyone in. Because once she did, she was completely and irreversibly attached to them. While she may love few, the few she loved, she loved with her entire being.

"I would love nothing more, than to live here with you and Henry." Emma replied immediately, "We could think of it as fresh start?" She offered. Regina released a breath of relief.

"A fresh start" She said, and for the first time in a long time, she was filled with hope.

* * *

**I know, I know. You all hate me for killing off FTL Emma and Regina. But just think of the future Storybrooke Regina and Emma can have now that they're free. Plus, the sacrifice was for Henry. That kid wins over the hearts of most people he meets.**

**I hope you caught onto some of the parallels, things that happened but in a slightly different way during the adventure of both versions of Emma and Regina it was my favorite part about writing this story.  
**


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